Max Frintrop, born in Oberhausen in 1982, now lives and works in Dusseldorf. After studying under Albert Oehlen at the Dusseldorf Art Academy, Frintrop became interested in combining the emotive, gestural quality of abstract expressionism and the relative rigidity of constructivism. Influenced by hard lines, rigid placement of paint, and significant size of his work, yet still playing into the spontaneity of gestural abstraction; Frintrop has created a perfectly balanced duality.

The networks of brightly colored lines that dominate Frintrop’s paintings operate like conduits of energy, shuttling the eye back and forth across the painting’s surface, invoking a relationship to the Constructivist tradition.

Frintrop’s paintings are still always quite picturesque in terms of their exploration of the classic interplay between foreground and background. His strokes are very strong yet also smooth and flat: gestures that play out in the inevitably fictive space of the canvas.

Formally speaking, these paintings took a huge leap forward when Frintrop developed the innovative technique of spraying and spreading ink through a broom-like device, often requiring him to work quickly and skillfully, since every decision he makes with the quick-drying ink immediately sets in stone and cannot be undone.

Frintrop’s influences collided into his very distinctive style; one that utilized the organic and sentimental marks of his favored mediums: acrylic and pigment. His vibrant color palette, yet abundance of negative space creates tangible tension within his works, as he seeks to find a balance between “precision and looseness”.

“To really know what these paintings are, you should be here.” -Max Frintrop