Hermann Josef Kuhna artworks and editions

Hermann Josef Kuhna was a contemporary artist from Germany. In 1944 he was born in Weißensee-Ottenhausen. From 1964 to 1969 Kuhna studied at the State Academy of Art in Düsseldorf with Gert Weber, Karl Bobek and Kurt Arnscheidt. From 1972 he worked as a lecturer at the "Institute for Art Education, Münster Department" at the Düsseldorf Art Academy and was appointed professor at the academy in 1979.

Hermann Josef Kuhna's artworks and editions are carefully constructed and can be classified under the concept of structural painting. This designation simultaneously emphasizes that his works have a clearly conceived architectural component. They consist of small dots of color as well as a tangle of individual blobs of color. The artist applies these to the canvas in several layers and work processes until he achieves a certain density of form and color. This interplay of abstract detail and figurative whole is what distinguishes this style. Kuhna's works communicate through small-scale color surfaces that only unfold their effect under the gaze of the viewer. In doing so, his painting can develop a very peculiar appeal between virtual appearance and haptic presence.

Hermann Josef Kuhna can be described as a structuralist whose artistic focus is on the effect of color. His artworks and editions are full of poetry and affinity with nature. He creates special tension by playing with the perception of space, for which he uses the contrast of light and dark as well as the illusion of three-dimensionality. The works of the painter are represented in numerous national and international private and museum collections.