M+B is pleased to present A Report on Hidden Kindness, an exhibition of new works by Dennis Scholl. This is the artist’s first solo show with the gallery. The exhibition opens on October 26 and will run through December 7, 2024, with an opening reception on Saturday, October 26, from 6 to 8 pm.
Dennis Scholl’s exhibition, A Report on Hidden Kindness, frames the body of work as an exploration of tenderness, vulnerability, and care within a universe charged with tension. His compositions seem to exist at the crossroads between brutality and softness, inviting viewers into a delicate balance of conflicting elements.
Scholl’s paintings are grounded in the notion that all the figures, motifs, and symbols present are inherently familiar. His approach avoids deliberately constructing mystery. Instead, he draws from universal imagery—animal figures such as lambs, deer, and birds—to evoke an instinctual response of protection, tenderness, or unease. In this interplay, Scholl frequently returns to the emotionality and tenderness conveyed through his figures, such as a shepherd warding off danger or vulnerable figures being cared for, often in ambiguous or precarious situations. These figures, often depicted with youthful or delicate features, serve as conduits for an immediate connection with the viewer, invoking feelings of care and empathy without overtly signaling their need for it.
Through Scholl’s use of animals, there is an evocation of innocence and gentleness intertwined with human vulnerability. This idea is particularly present in works like The Kindness of Strangers, where a deer is shown tending to a bleeding figure, imbuing the composition with both eroticism and a mythic sense of compassion. Scholl’s deliberate use of classical motifs, like the shepherd defending her flock, serves as a familiar foundation for contemporary explorations of morality, violence, and the human condition.
In many instances, Scholl’s visual language is interwoven with religious iconography, such as in Am leeren Grab (At the Empty Grave), where the image subtly references the three women visiting the tomb of Christ. The intricate reflections of light in the figures’ eyes echo themes of revelation, protection, and the uncertainty of hope in the face of loss or absence.
Indiscreet Devotion continues this thread, investigating the simultaneous allure and danger of human tendencies toward desire and destruction, exemplified through snake motifs, fire, and references to the forbidden. His works often depict a clash of primal instincts—fear, arousal, and death—presenting figures caught in moments of ambiguity.
Scholl's works are not bound by physical environments, often hovering in undefined, metaphysical spaces, yet his newest work shows a shift toward more grounded settings. These settings, however, remain ethereal, infused with twilight glow and shadowed by foliage, lending a dreamlike quality to the scenes. The figures move within these spaces as if within their own inner worlds, surrendering to the rituals and gestures that define them.
Ultimately, A Report on Hidden Kindness is a meditation on the tension between the known and the unseen, the safe and the dangerous, the brutal and the tender. Scholl’s work invites viewers to embrace this complexity, offering glimpses of hidden kindness that manifest in moments of vulnerability, quiet protection, and ritualized care.
Dennis Scholl (b 1980 in Hünfeld, Germany) studied art at HFBK Hamburg, Germany with Franz Erhard Walther and Andreas Slominski. Recent solo exhibitions include New Wounds or on the Beginning of Immediacy, Kunstverein Göttingen, Göttingen, Germany; Das Reine, das Leichte und andere Erzählungen, Museum Modern Art, Hünfeld, Germany; and The Song of Inclination, DSC Gallery, Prague, Czech Republic. Recent group exhibitions include Hoi Köln, Kölnischer Kunstverein, Cologne, Germany; TERRA DIASPORA – Welten Wandeln, Kunstverein Gottingen, Göttingen, Germany; Medium Zeichnung, Kunstverein Gera, Gera, Germany; and Les Enchantées, HAUNT Berlin. Scholl lives and works in Berlin, Germany.