Albrecht/Wilke

Albrecht/Wilke are Tim Albrecht and Hannes Wilke, a painting duo working mainly in oil and acrylic on canvas. They share canvas and brushes, so that each work is a running conversation between the two in which individual authorship recedes. Their subject is the aesthetics of everyday life, in particular the rituals, façades and absurdities of German petit-bourgeois culture: Hawaiian toast, grilled chicken, Black Forest gateau, currywurst and garden gnomes float in front of romantically exaggerated sunsets and mountain landscapes. They sample from art history and let the fine craft of Romanticism collide with the coarse brushwork of the Junge Wilde. Household scenes, staged leisure and lifestyle motifs become points of friction where stereotypes and normative ideals are reinforced and undermined at the same time. Their tone moves between affection and critique, turning humour and irony on a familiarity viewers recognise even as they try to keep their distance. The practice also extends into sculpture, installation and performance.