Matthias Franz

die dünne Haut der Zivilisation

September 9 – October 31, 2026
54 White Street, New York, NY (US)

GRIMM is pleased to announce die dünne Haut der Zivilisation, a solo exhibition of new works by German artist Matthias Franz (b. 1984, Ilmenau, DE) on view at the New York gallery from September 9 – October 31, 2026.

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In these new works, Matthias Franz returns to history as a means of storytelling. Through die dünne Haut der Zivilisation, Franz considers how our understanding of the past might become a means of comprehending the present. The exhibition title, which translates as The Thin Skin of Civilization, points to Franz's examination of the ideals and underlying structures that sustain civilized society. Drawing upon various literary and textual sources, he uses painting as a tool to visualize and question the world around us.

Ambiguous landscapes and enigmatic interiors feature in many of Franz’s paintings. They are scenes, unstated, where subjects contest for focus. Within these uncanny spaces, familiar figures are displaced, drifting across vast oceans or emerging among dense jungle foliage. In the die Aufklärung works, cloaked figures are depicted floating on a yellow ocean; hues of turquoise and burnt umber patinate the canvas, as they clutch hold of lights guiding their way in a multitude of directions. In the center, above an archaic-looking passenger boat, a hovering figure dressed in a Napoleonic uniform salutes upwards, levitating in the air as if suspended in some kind of cosmic veneration. The title, which translates as Enlightenment, stands in tension with the autocratic figure who embodies military expansion. Through this paradox, Franz alludes to the power dynamics that have shaped the past and suggests a broader sense of societal disenchantment that remains unsettlingly relevant today.

Vestiges of the past continue to populate Franz's works. In the Luddite Kids Club works, a dominant architectural tower or viewing platform that loosely takes the form of an abandoned bandstand is pictured. Children gaze upwards at an uninhabited platform crowded with instruments. The tower appears to offer a space for communal gathering, creation and performance, yet remains empty and inaccessible, its onlookers held at a distance, reduced to silent spectators before the instruments. This tension is reinforced through Franz's reference to the Luddite movement, a nineteenth-century rebellion of English textile workers. Rather than rejecting technological innovation outright, the Luddites were concerned with the conditions under which it was introduced, questioning whether it enhanced or diminished the dignity of everyday life and social relations. Here, Franz invites us to reconsider the relationship between past and present, reflecting the continuing artistic struggle for creative autonomy in an age of technological changes and advancement.

For enquiries regarding the featured works or for more information,
please email: enquiry@grimmgallery.com