Leon Eisermann

Leon Eisermann's recent paintings continue his engagement with the skeleton as a recurring symbol that navigates the space between life, death, and absurdity. In Bothered by the past, burdened by the future, he constructs a crooked version of the memento mori tradition, condensing the overused pop-cultural signifier of the skull into a contemporary reflection on mortality. The skeleton appears fragmented, distorted, and stretched — both a structural anchor and a formal scaffolding for painterly transformation. Through a multilayered process involving drawing, projection, and the physical layering and removal of paint, Eisermann builds compositions that oscillate between figuration and abstraction, humor and horror. His approach filters historical painting lineages through the lens of “bad painting” — an intentionally unstable, raw language that collapses vanitas, punk, and spiritual yearning into a restless, urban expression of the present.

Born in 1987, Leon Eisermann lives and works in Berlin. He studied at the Universität der Künste Berlin under Prof. Thomas Zipp and at the Städelschule Frankfurt under Prof. Judith Hopf. Recent solo exhibitions include WHEN WE HAVE EACH OTHER WE HAVE EVERYTHING, Galerie Tobias Naehring, Leipzig (2025); Bothered by the past, burdened by the future, Sebastian Gladstone, Los Angeles (2025); and (In)definitely, Goeben, Berlin (2020).