Sebastian Hosu

b. 1988

Sebastian Hosu was born in Satu Mare in 1988 and lives and works in Leipzig. He studied at the Art and Design University(UAD) in Cluj-Napoca and at the Albertina Academy of Fine Arts in Turin.

”The painting of Sebastian deals with reality – his reality. It also includes his idea of nature, which in turn is an expression of this reality.

He understands nature as a presence in painting, that is archetypal and not illustrative. But what is nature? Something that precedes us and that we belong to? Still? Or is it a long-lost experience, replaced by today’s virtual reality?” – From Antonio Pauciulo, painter

“…the technique of Sebastian Hosu’s images is a powerful presence: perhaps not so much the oil of the paintings as the coal of the drawings. There are nervous images, even a little hysterical, vibrating, pulsing with energy: a force that is seen not only in the representation of people, but especially in the representation of nature in the background and around them.” Adriana Oprea

Sebastian Hosu, Ausflug I, 2018
Sebastian Hosu, In the light of a lake I, 2019

”I get the impression that Sebastian Hosu would eschew such an attribution. You can already see in his paintings and drawings how everything seems to be in motion. He, too, has moved around a lot: he grew up in Satu Mare and studied in Cluj-Napoca, then in Turin and Liège, and finally in Leipzig where he currently lives. By his own account, he was more interested in different impulses and approaches than in seeking out particular professors, and this is what enabled him to develop an idiosyncratic artistic practice early on. Sebastian Hosu is also younger than artists such as Adrian Ghenie or Marius Bercea, and much younger than Neo Rauch, and he never experienced the “turnaround” in Romania, the radical transition from one system to another, and the subsequent post-communist era with all its contradictions. I can only give you my impression, of course, but I think that’s why Hosu focuses on different questions. In his case it’s less about failed utopias, as for him communism was already history. His artistic practice is possibly informed less by an existential “in between”, between an unprocessed past and uncertain future, and more by the search for new possibilities of expression in the painted image, and for counterbalance in a world that is increasingly influenced by artificial intelligence. The text for his latest joint exhibition with Antonio Pauciulo says that both artists see painting as a haptic language that is capable of fostering an ecological view. I also get the impression that there’s a renewed appreciation for painting in theoretical discourse, which is something I personally find interesting. Painting is also the focus of Sebastian Hosu’s artistic work, but drawing, too, and he succeeds in combining them in an impressive way. The image we used to announce the Leisure Life exhibition – On green floor III (2019) – is one of these charcoal-oil hybrids.” Lotte Laub in interview with Adriana Oprea for Revista Arta

...his idea of nature, which in turn is an expression of this reality​ →
...his idea of nature, which in turn is an expression of this reality​ →
Sebastian Hosu, The Powerpuff Girl, 2022
Sebastian Hosu, Ballad for space lovers II, 2022
Sebastian Hosu, Blue of the sky - Green of the Ground II (in between), 2023

Sebastian Hosu  was born in Satu Mare and lives and works in Leipzig. He studied at the Art and Design University(UAD) in Cluj-Napocaand at the Albertina Academy of Fine Arts in Turin. His Master’s degree in painting at the RoyalAcademy of Fine Arts in Liège (2012). Hosu’s works have been shown in numerous exhibitions, including the solo exhibitions at Friends of Current Art Association, Zwickau; Museum of Fine Arts (MdbK) in Leipzig; Rutger Brandt Gallery in Amsterdam. He has received various awards, including the Elisabeth Greenshields Award, Canada (2019 and 2017) and first prize at ArtWalk–Park 2015 in Leipzig. His works are included in the Hildebrand Collection, the collections of the MdbK in Leipzig and the Technical University in Darmstadt, as well as the Dresden State Art Collections.

Solo Exhibitions

2024Starcatcher, Duve Berlin, Berlin, Germany

2023Event Horizon, Galerie Philipp Anders, Leipzig, Germany

2023Picnic by the Wayside, Anca Poterasu Gallery, Bucharest

2022 In My Inner Place, Double Q Gallery, Hong Kong, Japan

2022 Ballad for Space Lovers, Galerie Philipp Anders, Leipzig, Germany

2020 In The Open, Rutger Brandt Gallery, Amsterdam, Netherlands

2020 Out There, Josef Filipp Galerie, Leipzig, Germany

2019 Leisure Life, Anca Poterasu Gallery, Bucharest, Romania

2019 I’ll Be Your Mirror, Josef Filipp Gallery, Leipzig, Germany

2019 In the light of a lake [Fluid Projekt], Kunstverein Freunde Aktueller Kunst, Zwickau, Germany

2018 Green Meat, Museum der bildenden Künste Leipzig, (MdbK) Leipzig, Germany

2018 Outscape, Josef Filipp Galerie, Leipzig, Germany

2017 Sebastian Hosu « new images », Josef Filipp Galerie, Leipzig, Germany

2017 tough time, Brennecke Gallery, Berlin, Germany

2017 no 7, with Agnes Lammert in FF15 Gallery, Leipzig, Germany

2016 Creating Realities, with Georg Brückmann in Rutger Brandt Gallery, Amsterdam, Netherlands

2016 Menschen-Träume, (artist talk with Misheck Masamvu), KAAD, Bonn, Germany

2015 Natural Selection, Westpol A.I.R. space, Leipzig, Germany

2015 Sun Outside, KAAD, Bonn, Germany

2015 Backstage Painting, Bükü-Galerie, Leipzig, Germany

Selected group exhibitions

2024 RAD ART Fair 2024, Bucharest, Romania

2024 Art Brussels 2024, Brussels, Belgium

2023 NADA Miami Art Fair in dialogue with Yasmina Assbane and Megan Dominescu, Miami, Florida, USA

2022 Mixed Feelings, Hildebrand Collection, G2 Kunsthalle, Leipzig, Germany

2022 OPEN DOORS, Anca Poterasu Gallery, Bucharest, Romania

2022 Untitled, Art Miami USA

2021 Chow Chow, Josef Filipp Galerie, Leipzig, Germany

2020 See You There, Galerie Eigenheim, Berlin, Germany

2020 i’m everyone, i’m everything, Kommunalka, Leipzig, Germany

2019 I‘ll Be Your Mirror, Josef Filipp Galerie, Leipzig, Germany

2019 Body Forms, Galerie Rundgaenger, Frankfurt, Germany

2019 WIN WIN, The Purchases of the Kulturstiftung des Freisteetes Sachsen 2019, HALLE 14- Zentrum für zeitgenössische Kunst, Baumwollspinnerei Leipzig, Germany

2019 Friendly Wave, Tête, Berlin, Germany

2018 POSITIONS Berlin Art Fair 2018 with Josef Filipp Galerie Booth C15, Berlin, Germany

2018 25. Leipziger – Jahresausstellung – SILBER, Leipziger Baumwollspinnerei Werkschauhalle / Halle 12 Leipzig, Germany

2018 Das ganze Programm, Josef Filipp Galerie, Leipzig, Germany

2018 MashUp V, Galerie Ghosh, Leipzig, Germany

2017 PAN Amsterdam Art Fair, Represented by Rutger Brandt Gallery, Amsterdam, Netherlands

2017 Positions Berlin Art Fair, Represented by Brennecke Gallery, Berlin, Germany

2017 tough time, Brennecke Gallery, Berlin, Germany

2017 innere notwendigkeit, MNEM SYNE Atelier Galerie, Leipzig, Germany

2017 Paper Positions, Art Fair Berlin, during Gallery Weekend, presented by Rutger Brandt Gallery, Berlin, Germany

2017 Art Paris Art Fair,presented by Rutger Brandt Gallery, Paris, France

2017 Art Karlsruhe Art Fair, presented by Brennecke Gallery, Karlsruhe, Germany

2016 Ich dachte, Sie wären nur ein armer Schlucker!, Kommunalka, Leipzig, Germany

2016 Amsterdam Drawing, Contemporary Art On Paper, with Rutger Brandt Gallery, Amsterdam, Netherlands

2016 PAN Amsterdam Art Fair, Represented by Rutger Brandt Gallery, Amsterdam, Netherlands

2016 Creating Realities, Rutger Brandt Gallery, Amsterdam, Netherlands

2016 Green Meat, Bipolar Gallery, Leipzig, Germany

2016 Menschen-Träume, (artist talk with Misheck Masamvu), KAAD, Bonn, Germany

2016 Klasse Ottersbach, Bayer-Kultur, Leverkusen, Germany

2015 Sun Outside, KAAD, Bonn, Germany

2015 Natural Selections, Westpol A.I.R. space, Leipzig, Germany

2015 Painting, Triumph-Gallery, Moscow, Russia

2015 Backstage Painting, Bükü-Galerie, Leipzig, Germany

2014 Die Pferde sind tot!, Forum Kunst Rottweil, Germany

2014 Galerie de Wégimont, Liége, Belgium

2013 Drawing protest, GFZK « Galerie für Zeitgenössische Kunst », Leipzig, Germany

2012 G.U.E.S.T.S.3, Brussels, Belgium

2012 Paintball, Dubois Friedland Gallery, Brussels, Belgium

2011 Plurality, Académie Royale des Beaux-arts, Liege, Belgium

Awards

2021 Finalist for the Walter Koschatzky Award, Vienna, Austria

2019 The Elisabeth Greenshields Award, Canada

2017 The Elisabeth Greenshields Award, Canada

2015 1st Prize 10. Kunstpreis Wesseling, Germany

2015 1st Prize ArtWalk, Leipzig, Germany

2014 – 2016 KAAD Stipendium, Germany

2012 The Elisabeth Greenshields Award, Canada

2012 Price Horlait, Brussels, Belgium

2012 Finalist Herelbeke Prijs Beeldende Kunsten, Belgium

2006 1st Prize Drawing on ecology, Satu Mare, Romania

2006 Mention in the National Painting Olympiad [Competition], Timisoara, Romania

Other Exhibited Artists