Olaf Hajek
(Foggia, Italien 1985)
Olaf Hajek er en tysk baseret illustrator, maler, kunstner, grafisk designer og forfatter.
Han benytter sig af folklore, religion, historie og geografi til at udforske modsætningerne mellem fantasi og virkelighed i vores kultur. Det elegante og klassiske i Olaf Hajeks malerier kommer til live mens man betragter dem og afslører noget skjult i os alle.
Med en overflod af eksotiske detaljer, drages beskueren ind i en magisk fortælling. Man fanges ind og får helt lyst til at forsvinde i Olafs fortryllende univers og starte en rejse ud i det ukendte. En rejse ind i os selv og mysteriet om vores egen forestillingsevne - vores ønsker, drømme og glemte verdener.
Man kommer næsten til at forestille sig en moderne Bjørn Wiinblad på coke!
VITA
Olaf Hajek lives and works in Berlin and Cape Town. Degree in Graphic Design at the Fachhochschule DüsseldorfSELECTED EXHIBITIONS SOLO 2018
Olaf Hajek – Paravent, Southern Guild, Cape Town, South Africa
2017
Au Marché, Anna Jill Lüpertz Gallery, Berlin
2016
Jäger und Sammler, Anna Jill Lüpertz Gallery, München
2015
Precious, Anna Jill Lüpertz Gallery, Hamburg
2013
Still Life, Anna Jill Lüpertz Gallery, Berlin
Strange Flowers, Whatiftheworld Gallery, Cape Town, South Africa
2012
The King Has Lost His Crown, Anna Jill Lüpertz Gallery, Berlin
Black Antoinette, Gestalten Space, Berlin
2011
Olaf Hajek, Werft2, Anna Jill Lüpertz Gallery, Berlin
Dark clouds are gathering, Whatiftheworld Gallery, Cape Town, South Africa
2010
Flowerhead, Direktorenhaus, Berlin
Masquerade, Marcia Wood Gallery, Atlanta, USA
GROUP
2017
- / +, Galerie Kleindienst im BIKINI, Berlin
2015
Inspired by the 18th Century, Kasteel d’Ursel, Belgium
2014
Lieber Künstler zeichne mir, Semjon Contemporary, Berlin
1398 Artists of the Gallery, Anna Jill Lüpertz Gallery, Berlin
2009
Illustrative 09 Berlin
2008
Maskerade, Galerie Johanssen, Berlin
2007
Illustrative 07 Paris
Illustrative 07 Berlin
BBAX07, Buenos Aires
2006
Illustrative Preview, Galerie Johanssen, Berlin
2004
NOTANGO, Berlin
Publications
2017
Olaf Hajek, Monographie, DISTANZ Verlag
2013
“Feature Olaf Hajek”, Communication Arts, USA
“!OO Illustrators”, Curated by Steven Heller, Taschen Publishers
2012
Monographe “Black Antoinette”, Gestalten
2009
Monographe “Flowerhead”, Gestalten
Olaf Hajek
(Foggia, Italien 1985)
At first sight the Olaf Hajeks artwork enchant the viewer with the densely told mystery of filigree painting. Hajeks art evokes feeling of findings out of old field books and a scenery of ancient times. Yet the paintings are far more than mere surface and reach deeply. Entirely in the tradition of Andrè Bretons Le Surréalisme et la Peinture Olaf Hajek forms a mystical dreamworld likewise the amazing painter Andrè Masson. His Oevre refers incessantly to the disclosure of the secrets of the human spirit. A recurrent motiv in this series of Jäger und Sammler is the mask as a symbol of concealing and revelation. Playing with the metaphor of the interior and exterior opens an endless possibility of variations. Once again it reveals the complexity of his composition and relatedness to the surrealists. The paintings of Olaf Hajek with their very elegant and classical look and feel come to life while watching them and reveal something hidden in all of us. Mostly arranged with an abundance of details those at the same time so familiar as at the same time exotic sceneries woo us into their spell. They entrap us to take a closer look and want us to get lost in this enchanted cosmos to initiate a journey into the unknown. A journey into ourselves and the mystery of our very own imagination – our desires, our dreams and the forgotten worlds..
