"Sali e Tabacchi #18 (Rome)" Painting

Peter Vahlefeld – Painting Between Image and Reality

An art historian once described Peter Vahlefeld’s pictures as "landscapes" because there is usually a horizon line, a top and bottom. They could be assigned to the concept of landscape in an almost narrative way, namely that of the "media landscape" from which the motifs originate.

Vahlefeld is interested in the way images influence how we see and understand the world. He takes familiar media images and transforms them through painting. Printed images are cut, covered, erased or partially concealed beneath layers of oil paint. In this process, an image can lose its original meaning and become something new. What we thought we recognized is still present, but it has been altered and made uncertain.

This tension between recognition and uncertainty is central to Vahlefeld’s work. His paintings question the distinction between reality and the images through which reality is presented to us. In a world increasingly shaped by photography, advertising and digital media, images can sometimes appear more immediate and more convincing than reality itself. Vahlefeld explores this phenomenon through the very act of painting.

His canvases bring together contrasting materials and visual experiences: the physical, expressive quality of oil paint alongside the flatness of printed images, wallpaper or fabric. Glossy and matte surfaces further enhance this tension. Layers of material are built up, covered and then exposed again. Nothing is completely hidden and nothing is completely revealed.

About the Artist
After graduating from Parsons School of Design, NYC in 1990, Peter Vahlefeld exhibited in New York, including at White Columns, Ward Nasse Gallery, Barneys New York and the Society of Illustrators. After moving from New York to Berlin, his work has been presented nationally and internationally in galleries, art fairs and institutional contexts, including Sotheby’s, Neumeister, Fritz Hansen, the Allianz Art Collection and Poliform. His paintings are held in private and corporate collections throughout Europe, the United States and East Asia. His work has also been featured on the German television network ZDF. Today, Vahlefeld works between his studios in Berlin and Munich.