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until 06.09. | #4756ARTatBerlin | CSR.ART in collaboration with Galerie Martin Mertens presents from Friday, 08. August 2025 (Opening: 07.08.) the exhibition FINE ART! by the artists Thorbjørn Bechmann, Sébastien Gaudette and Sebastian Herzau. The exhibition will be on display in the new CSR.ART exhibition space at BIKINI BERLIN.
As soon as you step into the FINE ART! exhibition, you notice that something is happening here that captivates your gaze. It’s a real head-turner. At first glance, the works appear clear and easy to grasp – but linger a moment longer and they begin to reveal their second, third and fourth layers.
Traditional techniques with a surprise effect
Thorbjørn Bechmann, Sébastien Gaudette and Sebastian Herzau work with tried-and-tested artistic methods, but they twist them in such a way that your eye is constantly tripped up – in the best possible sense.
Thorbjørn Bechmann lets pigments flow across the canvas in highly diluted oil until transparent colour spaces form, sometimes floating, sometimes flowing into one another like waves. What begins calmly can become intense.
Thorbjorn Bechmann, o. T., 2021, 80 x 70 cm, courtesy of Galerie Martin Mertens
Sébastien Gaudette shapes paper? No, aluminium! Objects that look like crumpled paper. Everything is handmade, without digital tricks. This blurs the line between sculpture and drawing – and you are no longer sure what you are actually looking at.
Sebastien Gaudette, Blank Page, 2023, Aluminium, Colour,
28 x 21 x 5 cm, courtesy of Galerie Martin Mertens
Sebastian Herzau paints portraits and still lifes that remind you of everyday objects: photos and tapes – until you realise: it’s all painted! No photography, no adhesive tape – just brushes, paint and a masterful illusion that draws you right into the picture.
Sebastian Herzau, the great below B. II-19 L., 2019, Acrylic on Canvas,
160 x 140 cm, courtesy of Galerie Martin Mertens
Seeing – layer by layer: FINE ART! invites not just to look, but to really see. The apparent clarity of the works is like an open door – and only when you walk through it do you discover how rich and multi-layered the rooms behind it are.
Tip for you: Let yourself be enticed by the surface – but look deeper. The longer you stay, the more you will see. And perhaps you will leave with a perspective that is no longer the same as before.
Thorbjørn Bechmann (1966, Denmark) lives and works in Copenhagen. His non-representational paintings are created through a process-oriented approach in which he applies layers of oil paint that create subtle colour gradients and transparencies through dilution and layering. Bechmann studied at the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts and has exhibited in Denmark, Germany, Istanbul and Japan. His works are represented in public and private collections, including the Danish Arts Foundation.
Sébastien Gaudette (1984, Canada) lives and works in Montreal. His works are masterful trompe-l’œil sculptures made of aluminium, modelled after crumpled paper. With the finest craftsmanship and a clear focus on the material, he creates objects that blur the line between sculpture and drawing. Each work is unique, handmade and painted, deliberately avoiding the use of digital tools.
Sebastian Herzau (1980, Germany) lives and works in Halle/Saale and Magdeburg. After studying painting at Burg Giebichenstein University of Art and Design Halle, he founded the artist organisation dieHO in 2005. Herzau’s work focuses on portraits and still lifes, using overpainting and alienation effects to challenge the viewer’s perception. His works have been exhibited at the Martin Mertens Gallery in Berlin, among other venues.
Opening Part I: Thursday, 7 August 2025, 6–9 p.m.
Opening Part II: Thursday, 28 August 2025, 6–9 p.m. (in addition with new artists – more soon)
Exhibition dates: Friday, 8 August – Saturday, 6 September 2025
To the gallery
Image caption: Sebastian Herzau, the great below B. II-19 L., 2019, Acrylic on Canvas, 160 x 140 cm, courtesy of Galerie Martin Mertens
Exhibition FINE ART! – CSR.ART + Galerie Martin Mertens | Zeitgenössische Kunst in Berlin | Contemporary Art | Exhibitions Berlin Galleries | ART at Berlin
