Wettstreit mit der Wirklichkeit
60 Jahre Fotorealismus
28 February – 02 August 2026
Museum Frieder Burda
Lichtentaler Allee 8B
76530 Baden-Baden
Since ancient times, the aim of painting has been to reproduce nature as faithfully as possible. In 20th-century art, no movement has pursued this competition with reality as programmatically as American photorealism. In response to Abstract Expressionism, artists such as Richard Estes, Audrey Flack, Ralph Goings, and Ron Kleemann turned to representational painting intended to rival the medium of photography in its precision and visual power. Ordinary motifs from everyday American life became the hallmark of these highly ambitious painters, who located the power of the images not in the subject itself, but in its astonishingly illusionistic rendering. Through over 90 selected masterpieces, the exhibition illuminates the development of this art movement—also known as Hyperrealism—from the 1960s to the present day.
In her painting, Karin Kneffel speaks an unmistakably personal language, using it to develop scenes or subjects that appear formally realistic, which she then transforms into the surreal. She creates still lifes, interiors, reflections, beguiling ornamentation, and sensual surfaces with deceptive textures. Karin Kneffel’s artistic orchestration
of colors and forms, overlapping image planes, and thematic references piles up in the interplay of image sharpness and blurriness to form worlds of particular aesthetic appeal. Based on photographic templates, the artist constantly reinvents her world of motifs. In a labor-intensive painting process, she transforms the photographic templates into soft, imaginative compositions. Her artistic DNA is also rooted in the photorealism of Gerhard Richter, whose star pupil she was at the Academy of Fine Arts in Düsseldorf. However, she takes his neutral approach further into an emotional visual language that bears witness to a spiritual transformation of reality. Through this
creative process, she imbues her paintings with a warmth and vitality that distinguishes them from traditional photorealistic painting. Formal characteristics as well as distinctive features of objects and places are reflected in her painting just as much as personal experiences, memories, and emotions. The artist draws from these sources
for her creations and offers viewers not only seductive surfaces but also narrative moments.
Karin Kneffel
Ohne Titel (Blaues Land), 2013
oil on canvas
130 x 160 cm
Text: © Museum Frieder Burda
Artwork: © Karin Kneffel
Photo: © Achim Kukulies Düsseldorf