BIOGRAPHY

Born in Germany, now living and working in Denmark, John Reuss studied design, while painting and exhibiting on the side. Reuss has always worked in the creative field, from teaching drawing and concept development classes to graphic design, media planning and marketing, before making art the main focus.

The world Reuss depicts is not a location in space and time. It is an inner world, a world where thought, emotion and raw cognition defines the figures and the space they inhabit. For Reuss the creative process is a key to the inner, psychological world; balancing on the border of the conscious and subconscious and revolving around the main theme of alienation from how the outer reality, the development in the world and how we live our lives, disrupts or affects our inner life and existence.

His paintings are essentially depicting a disturbed inner reality or a self-perception, aiming to capture the existential struggle, doubts and alienation that comes in the wake of modern life. Figures and faces in his work appear fragmented, broken up and disintegrating, emualting this conceptual internal reality.

Extensively interviewed and critically acclaimed throughout Europe since 2001, Reuss’s most recent exhibitons include groups shows at Galleri NB in Denmark and Robert Fontaine Gallery in Miami Florida in early 2020.

ARTIST STATEMENT

“For me creativity is as much about tearing down and destroying as it is about creating and building up. This also means that the final work is the result of the process rather than a planned image. My work is characterized by contrasts – the juxtaposition of opposites on several levels – which is recognized throughout my paintings. Fine detail, drawn lines and meticulously painted shapes clash with bold brushstrokes, spatters and blurred contours. Soft organic shapes and multifaceted figures meet hard, calculated geometric abstractions.

Labels such as “existential surrealism” or “psychological realism” have often been used about my work – which I think describes it well. I aim to make art that not only tells about me, but also speaks to the viewer and is open to interpretation – that can contain meaning that I myself have not foreseen.”

Solo Exhibitions

2018 “Disruption”, Galleri NB, Viborg DK

2017 “Innuendo”, Galleri NB, Viborg DK

2016 “Fragmented Vision”, Galleri NB, Viborg DK

2015 “Please Destroy This”, in collaboration with Jacob Juhl, Galleri V58, Århus DK

2014 “Hide & Seek”, Galleri NB, Viborg DK

2013 “The Inside Angle”, NBeX, Viborg DK

2013 “Mind & Matter”, Hillyer Art Space, Washington DC, USA

2012 ArtStra Galleri, Copenhagen DK

2011 “Familie af fremmede”, Galleri Progres, Horsens DK

2009 “Grænseland”, Galleri Progres, Horsens DK

2008 Galleri Vibse, Vejle DK

2001 Galleri Inuit, Aalborg DK

2001 Kulturkøbmanden, Skørping DK

Juried Exhibitions

2010 Kunstnernes Sommerudstilling (KS10), Tistrup DK

2008  “INSIDE08”, Kunstpakhuset, Ikast DK

Group Exhibitions

2020 “Contemporary Human”, Galleri NB, Viborg DK

2019 “Christmas Stars”, Galleri NB, Viborg DK

2019 Art Miami, Miami USA

2019 Å-udstillingen, Odense DK

2019 “Waou”, Galleri NB, Viborg DK

2019 “Color & Form”, Robert Fontine Gallery, Miami USA, 2019

2019 Art Herning, Herning DK

2018 “Christmas Stars”, Galleri NB, Viborg DK,

2018 Art Vilnius, Vilnius LT

2018Art The Hague, The Hague NL

2018 “Depict The Mask”, CGK Centre For Contemporary Art, Copenhagen

2018 “Passion”, Galleri NB, Viborg DK

2018 Art Herning, Herning DK

2017 30 Year Jubilee Exhibition, Galleri NB, Viborg DK

2017 KunstRAI, Amsterdam NL

2017 NORTH, Aalborg DK

2017 Art Herning, Herning DK

2016 PrcjtOMNI, Traverse City, Michigan USA,

2016 Art Vilnius, Vilnius LT

2016 NORTH, Aalborg DK

2016 Art Herning, Herning DK

2015 Opening Exhibition, GRAFO Gallery, Vilnius LT

2015 “Christmas Event”, Galleri NB, Viborg DK

2015Pop-Up, Galleri NB, with Kristian Vodder Svensson, Copenhagen DK

2015Art Copenhagen, Copenhagen DK,

2015 “Trans-Figuration”, Galleri NB, Viborg DK

2014 Art Copenhagen, Copenhagen DK

2014Pop-Up, Galleri NB, Herning DK

2014 “REmantics”, Galleri V58, Århus DK

2012 “Christmas Event”, Galleri NB, Copenhagen DK

2012 “Christmas Event”, Galleri NB, Viborg DK

2012 “Samtidige hændelser”, ArtStra Galleri, Copenhagen DK

2012 Art Herning, Herning DK

2011 “Progres 2”, Galleri Progres, Horsens DK

2011 “Your Art”, Rundetaarn, Copenhagen DK

2011 “Optipism”, Gallery Dada Post, Berlin DE

2011 Art Herning, Herning DK

2009 Art Herning, Herning DK

2008 “Trust 100%”, Kulturspinderiet, Silkeborg DK

Collections, Institutions, etc.

Højskolen Hald Ege

Dio Sumagaysay Collection

Publications

2016 Arteviridea (The quest for a cure continues), Dio Sumagaysay,

2015 Bizarre Beyond Belief Magazine – THE COLLECTION, VOL1,