Stefan Thiel: ARCHIVE
Born in Berlin in 1965, Stefan Thiel studied under photographer Dieter Appelt at the Berlin University of the Arts from 1988 to 1992. He has lived and worked in Warnemünde and Goldberg since 2017.
He gained international recognition 25 years ago with his paper cutouts, which are now found in both private and public collections, such as the Neubrandenburg Art Collection, the National Gallery in Berlin, and the Bodmer Foundation in Geneva.
Since his student days, Thiel has avoided the notion of a personal artistic signature. Thus, he does not limit his ideas to a single stylistic device but works with various forms of artistic production, such as painting, photography, drawing, paper cutouts, and installation. His themes include surfaces, concepts of beauty and identity, consumption, and desire.
Despite the formally disparate visual language of his works, they all seem to be related to one another. Thus, one can speak of a family resemblance among Thiel’s bodies of work. In almost all of his works—from the silhouettes to his photographic work to the oil paintings in the grisaille technique—one recognizes the use of a black-and-white contrast. This runs like a black thread of lamp soot, charcoal, and ash through his entire body of work.
At the Kunsthaus Lübz, Thiel is presenting a cross-section of his work for the first time, allowing pieces from different periods to interact and converse with one another. “ARCHIV” is neither a retrospective nor a system of classification. In this new context, former connections become porous, while others come into view. The LUPINALE theme “Turning Point: Upheavals and Glimmers of Hope” does not appear as a predefined motif, but rather as a process—as a shift in perspective.
Exhibition opening: September 18, 2026, 6:00 p.m.
Exhibition dates: September 18 through October 17, 2026
As part of KUNST HEUTE: October 3 through 11, 2026
