Volker Hermes

Volker Hermes (born 1972 in Wegberg) is a German visual artist.

Life and career

Hermes studied at the Kunstakademie Düsseldorf from 1995 to 2002 under Dieter Krieg, becoming his Meisterschüler (master student) in 2000. From 1999 to 2001, he was a scholarship recipient of the Studienstiftung des deutschen Volkes.

Hermes has exhibited his work in exhibitions and artistic projects in Europe and the United States. His Hidden Portraits series has attracted international attention. In June 2023, the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York featured his work as part of its online Perspectives series. A work by Hermes appeared on the cover of the October 2022 issue of The New York Review of Books, and Christie's New York collaborated with him on a project for its Classic Week in 2020. His work has also been covered by media outlets beyond the art world, including the American edition of Vogue, Harper's Bazaar, and Germany's Zeitmagazin.

Work

Major series by Hermes include Parforce, Humboldt Hybride, and Hidden Portraits. Parforce is primarily a painterly exploration of the genre of marine painting. In Humboldt Hybride, Hermes combines paintings, drawings, and digital collages to examine the representation of rational knowledge alongside the experience of discovery, drawing on imagery associated with early scientific expeditions. 2005: Artist-in-residence in Ein Hod, Israel

Selected exhibitions

Solo exhibitions

2025: Hidden Portraits / Portraits Cachés, Château d'Azay-le-Rideau, France 2025: The Look, James Freeman Gallery, London (with Derrick Guild) 2024: Auge und Zeit, Suermondt-Ludwig-Museum, Aachen 2023: Ruff Hood, James Freeman Gallery, London 2023: Rococo Madness, National Museum in Wrocław, Wrocław 2021: Inszenierungen des Zeigens, Kunsthaus Nordrhein-Westfalen Kornelimünster, Kornelimünster 2020: Hidden Portraits. Identità s-velate, Civic Museums of Pavia, Italy 2020: Christie's featuring Hidden Portraits, Christie's, Rockefeller Center, New York 2022: UltraQueer, Museum Palazzo Merulana, Rome 2022: Unveiled, The Beaney House, Canterbury Museums, Canterbury 2020: you are here, Kunsthaus NRW, Kornelimünster 2017: Akademie, Kunst im Tunnel, Düsseldorf 2016: 50 contemporary artists, Enter Art Foundation, Berlin 2013: Hang zur Kunst, pop-up exhibition, Stuttgart 2006: Kunstrasen 2006, Ersatzbank der Gefühle, Stadtmuseum Halle, Halle (Saale) 2004: co_op, Kunstverein Hildesheim (with Jörg Rothhaar) 2002: Ich und Wolfgang, Galerie Kunstbüro Düsseldorf 2002: Bildräume, Kunstverein Landau 2001: Paper Jam, Kunstverein Bielefeld, Bielefeld 2000: Flag Parade, Abteiberg Museum, Mönchengladbach

Selected projects

2025: Portrait und Mensch, online exhibition with the Prussian Palaces and Gardens Foundation Berlin-Brandenburg 2022: Lecture and talk, Lebanese American University, Beirut 2022: A New Voice in an Old World, talk as part of the Art History Festival UK 2021: Podcast, Athena Art Foundation, New York 2021: Face Off Symposium, Manchester Fashion Institute, Manchester Metropolitan University 2020: Podcast, Colnaghi Foundation, London/New York 2020: Podcast, Dress:Fancy, London 2019: Ziggy Medal, with Rita McBride, design of an artists' medal, Düsseldorf 2018: Île Flottante, British Pavilion, Venice Biennale of Architecture, Venice 2016: Hand-painted costumes for The Makropulos Affair by Leoš Janáček, Deutsche Oper Berlin, Berlin 2013: Contributed artwork to the film Only Lovers Left Alive, directed by Jim Jarmusch 2011: Hand-painted costumes for Tristan und Isolde by Richard Wagner, Ruhrtriennale 2010: Hand-painted costumes for the premiere of the opera Gisela by Hans Werner Henze, Ruhrtriennale 1999–2002: Co-founder and curator of the exhibition space PLUS e.V., Düsseldorf

Media and interviews

Artists on Artists, conversation with Peter Brathwaite, National Gallery Hidden Portraits by Volker Hermes, Deutsche Welle, 2021 Ist uns das Lachen vergangen?, feature on Volker Hermes in aspekte, ZDF, 2021 (no longer available online) Meet the artist: Volker Hermes at James Freeman Gallery, Athena Art Foundation, 2023 The Portraits of Volker Hermes, Christopher Alessandrini, The Met Perspectives, New York Die maskierten Porträts des deutschen Künstlers Volker Hermes werden gerade zur Internet-Sensation, Hanna Buehrle, Vogue Germany, 2021 History Revisited, Vogue Portugal Podcast with Volker Hermes, Colnaghi Foundation, 2021 Athena Livestream with Volker Hermes, Athena Art Foundation, 2022 In Conversation with the artist Volker Hermes, talk with curator Dr Benjamin Wild, Manchester Fashion Institute, 2021 Whimsical, Surreal & Insightful: The Masked Portraits of Volker Hermes Breathe New Life into Classical Portraiture, Eric David, Yatzer, 2021 Hidden Portraits by Volker Hermes at James Freeman Gallery, Christina Petridou, designboom, 2023 Overly Grand Manners: Volker Hermes Exaggerates Historical Portraits with Ostentatious Absurdity, Kate Mothes, Colossal, 2023

Publications

Volker Hermes: Hidden Portraits, Old Masters Reimagined. ACC Art Books, New York, 2024. .