Martin Galle

Martin Galle, born 1981, Leipzig, Germany, studied at the Hochschule für Grafik und Buchkunst (HGB) Leipzig and was a Master Student under Neo Rauch from 2008 to 2010. He lives and works in Leipzig. Known for his naturalistic and sensitive paintings, Galle also explores a fusion of various painting techniques and styles, merging traditional methods with contemporary pop- cultural themes. This creates an intense dialogue between different time periods and artistic traditions. His works have been shown in prominent international exhibitions, including Taipei, Los Angeles, New York, Seoul, Athens, and Leipzig. Notable exhibitions include Natural Feeling (2025, Tapetenwerk Leipzig), The Essence of Existence (2023, AKI Gallery, Taipei), and Firework Show (2011, artlab21 Foundation, Los Angeles). Martin Galle masters the painterly spectrum from figuration to abstraction. In his work, traditional, classical painting techniques merge with timeless advertising poster aesthetics and observations of nature. The sources of inspiration for his paintings are multifaceted. It is the banal, sometimes absurd aspects and encounters of everyday life which, when filtered, transformed through new compositions, and combined with the interplay of light and shadow, acquire a peculiar new form, even a new meaning. His numerous depictions of nature and landscapes, as well as portraits—which for him also include all representations of animals—are emotional expressions of states, inspired by fairy-tale films and childhood memories of circus visits—or observed by the artist and staged as if by a director. They are direct, felt encounters, sometimes only a moment in which a thought becomes the impetus for artistic creation. Here, his awareness of the fleetingness of time and his play with symbolism and attribution is reflected. In his ongoing series of horse depictions, he not only caricatures the cosmos of the entire “horse-kitsch” world —seen in posters, clothing, and various objects—but simultaneously questions our relationship to nature and history. Through his often larger-than-life portrayals, he elevates the animal to a new anti-icon in a society that has lost a true connection to nature. As with most of his portraits, they usually challenge the viewer through a direct gaze. The observer becomes the observed. One cannot help but feel addressed.