The unusual perspective and magnification create a fascinating pull toward what is otherwise repulsive. With bold brushstrokes and energetic color combinations, she stages her subjects on large canvases, allowing viewers to experience a dynamic tension between attraction and aversion. In contrast, she presents small watercolor pieces that resemble studies—delicate and almost intimate—nestled among the larger works. The exhibition “Mad About You” is on view until January 15, 2025, at the NEWCOMER KWS Art Lounge on Tiedexer Straße in Einbeck.
“Maria Trezinski takes us into a world that is usually hidden from us—or even instinctively avoided,” said Dr. Peter Hofmann, a member of the KWS Executive Board, at the exhibition opening. Even the title of the show is full of promise. Visitors can encounter fighting roosters, insects, and poisonous mushrooms.
Art historian Dr. Alexander Leinemann (Göttingen) introduced the exhibition by noting that the motifs are easy to grasp at first glance. “But that first look misses so much of what we can actually see here.” Trezinski’s paintings reveal themselves in stages, through different ways of seeing. The salamander, for instance, is clearly recognizable. “But when we look closely, we notice it’s not just a salamander.” There are splashes of color and sweeping brushstrokes. “What we find in the details is the artist’s deliberate engagement with nature and the environment.” Her works don’t play it safe by sticking to the motif—they confront viewers with what art is truly capable of, said Leinemann: “to overwhelm us, to reveal our limitations, and to challenge our language and humanity.” Only by taking risks can art visualize something in a way that has never been seen before. A perfect depiction would be rather boring. A constantly shifting perspective allows for new insights. “We don’t stand in front of it and say: That’s how it is and how it must be. Instead, we discover something new each time,” said Dr. Leinemann.
“In my work, I try to penetrate the subject matter through a painterly process, creating an ambivalence between the appealingly painted surface and the morbidity of the content,” says Maria Trezinski. She seeks different color and stylistic solutions to depict an object, beginning with sketches and photographs before translating them into oil and watercolor paintings. She studies the texture and materiality of her subjects. Her observations—such as the shiny surface, weight, and sharp smell of a pig’s heart—inform her painterly approach to the organ, she explains.
The first room of the gallery is dominated by two large-scale paintings of fighting roosters, hung as if they are flying toward each other. Powerful and full of energy, the impressive animals face off just before battle. The colors and expressive brushwork also seem to enter a combative mode, charged with aggression.
The exhibition is complemented by sculptural ceramics, some displayed on pedestals.
Trezinski draws inspiration for these ceramic presentations from the “cabinets of curiosities” of the late Renaissance and Baroque periods—early museum concepts that showcased the curious, the spectacular, and the impressive in eclectic collections.
Maria Trezinski, born in 1994 in Braunschweig, now lives and works in Speyer. She received a gifted student scholarship from the state of Lower Saxony in 2010/2011. In 2011, she began studying Fine Arts at the University of Fine Arts (HBK) in Braunschweig, graduating with a diploma in 2016. From 2016 to 2017, she studied simultaneously at the École de recherche graphique in Brussels and as a master student at HBK Braunschweig under Professor Manfred Ellenrieder. Since 2015, she has held 18 solo exhibitions and participated in numerous group shows. She has received several grants, including a catalog grant from Hannover Re and the Palatinate Prize for Fine Arts in the painting category.
A catalog for “Mad About You” will be published in the coming weeks. The NEWCOMER KWS Art Lounge on Tiedexer Straße in Einbeck is open Wednesdays from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m., Fridays from 3 p.m. to 6 p.m., and Saturdays from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. In addition to regular hours, there will be special openings and guided tours until January 15. During the Einbeck Owl Festival (October 11–13), the gallery will be open on Sunday from 1 p.m. to 6 p.m.