Pleasure, danger, masculine vulnerability, and daring intimacy: In his bold work, Florian Krewer captures visions of a city that suffocates him with its embrace. On the streets of the Bronx, the painter—who hails originally from a small town in western Germany—inhales scenes of urban life that he then exhales in paintings alive with freedom and raw humanity. Teeming with dark nights and aggressive men rendered in garish colors, his canvases thrill with their vitality, move with their intimacy, and, at times, make us uncomfortable with their unbearable honesty.
In a conversation with Vogue, Krewer, 37, spoke about his work, his life in New York, and his upcoming exhibition at Michael Werner Gallery in Los Angeles.
Vogue: What made you decide to move to New York ?
Florian Krewer: I remember that there was initially a collaboration with Michael Werner in 2018. The following year I had an exhibition in London, and then the gallery in New York asked me: “Hey, Flo, you’ve worked hard. If you’re interested, come to New York for a month and see if you like it.” Thanks to [British painter] Peter Doig, I visited three or four times. The first time I thought, I can’t live here. It’s too much! But from the second or third time onwards I could imagine it and enjoy it more. New York is a city that overwhelms you.
In your paintings we see mostly young, male figures, often placed in dangerous or vulnerable positions. Where do they come from?
It’s a completely mixed bag. Many situations are abstractions based on the emotions from experiences I’ve collected. Some of them feature my friends. There are also elements from times when I had many personal conflicts because society still relies on stereotypes. In New York, one feels like they can transgress that; everything here is extreme, but there are also many nuances in between. Many times I couldn’t communicate that. For instance, if you’re attracted to both sexes, you’re categorized as either heterosexual or gay. But if you like both sexes, I feel torn from one side to the other. What I like here is that if you’re with a woman or a man, you can live it publicly in a more comfortable way compared to, for example, Germany. Here I’ve met many trans people who, even here in New York, still face significant difficulties with society.
For me, it’s moving. Although I don’t see or feel myself as very masculine, I am naturally amazed by masculinity, such as in the strong figures we see in movies. Especially if you look back to the ’90s, when this macho culture dominated. However, beneath this masculinity, the individual ceased to be free. If you don’t live according to those norms, you automatically have to be more alert, because people will understand you less or be afraid of being confronted with that situation. Everything revolves around security
With “strike the dust” opening at Michael Werner in Beverly Hills, tell us about your relationship to the West Coast.
I have to say that I didn’t think much about the audience, but the fact that the exhibition is in L.A. did have some influence. Everything there feels scattered. One thing I wanted to explore in this exhibition was posing the question of how much room there is for freedom, because you get the sense that everything is very compact there. Also, how privilege can either grant you freedom or take it away…
This interview was originally published in Spanish on vogue.mx. It has been edited and condensed for clarity.
“Florian Krewer: strike the dust” is on view at Michael Werner Gallery, Beverly Hills, through November 6.