Karin Kneffel Secularizes Renaissance Sculptures at Gagosian Rome

German painter Karin Kneffel (b. 1957, Marl) presents a new body of work at Gagosian Rome, transforming Northern Renaissance religious sculptures into contemporary portraits. The series, titled 'Face of a Woman, Head of a Child,' strips sacred figures of their titles and iconography, focusing solely on their faces and expressions. The large-scale close-ups are displayed in the gallery's oval room, echoing her famous still lifes. Kneffel, who had a residency at the German Academy Villa Massimo 25 years ago, returned to Rome to show these works, noting that the backgrounds have evolved from flat monochrome to generic landscapes and skies combining multiple temporal perspectives. The diptychs of woman and child gain energy from the Baroque Roman context and the gallery's modern geometry. Kneffel's technique involves up to four layers of oil paint on a multi-ground canvas, applied with a small brush, creating transparent and luminous surfaces. She photographs and digitally crops the original sculptures, then enlarges their faces, emphasizing material qualities, light play, and the marks of time. She considers herself the 'third artist' after the original sculptor and the fassmaler (craft painter). One diptych features a contemporary mother and child from her family circle, emblematic of today's diverse Germany, who look directly at the viewer, unlike the historical icons. The exhibition was on view in 2022.