Reinhard Voigt's Pixel Paintings Before the Digital Age

Reinhard Voigt, now 85, began creating grid-based paintings in 1968, long before pixels became ubiquitous. Despite early discouragement from peers and even Gerhard Richter, Voigt persisted. His first major exhibition, 'Pure Pleasure,' took place in 2023/2024 in Nuremberg. Currently, Berlin's Kunstraum Grotto presents 'High on Low,' a duo show with Anna-Sophie Berger featuring Voigt's Word Paintings, including 'Themenraum' (1997), 'Vote For Flavor' (1996), and 'Vanilla' (1994). The exhibition extends to Café Tiergarten and Hansabibliothek in the Hansaviertel. Voigt's technique involves photographing friends, projecting via transparent paper, and transferring to canvas with oil paint. His mother's cross-stitch embroidery inspired the grid method. Born in Berlin-Schöneberg in 1940, Voigt fled East Germany at age 12. He trained as a chemical lab technician before studying art in Hamburg in 1964. He also studied ceramics in Erbach under a Bauhaus tradition. In 1978, he moved to New York, where he met his wife, artist Susan Elias. They later lived in Los Angeles and Upstate New York before returning to Berlin in 2017. Voigt's work remains underrecognized, but he continues to paint, describing his images as 'an archive of longings.'