With his distinctive and sensuous method of handling paint — simultaneously fluid and precise — Düsseldorf-based artist Cornelius Völker reinvigorates the traditional genre of the still life painting in a surprising and contemporary investigation of the history of art and the nature of humanity.

The subjects of the paintings in this exhibition veer between symbols of our efforts to chronicle and arrest the passage of time — documents, books, bulletin boards — and obvious examples of its fleeting nature — ripening fruit, crumpled notes, burnt books.

Völker explores the motifs and conventions of European painting while scrutinizing the deep-seated human need to find or create order. How much of our lives are spent classifying, codifying, systematizing and tidying-up? Such efforts provide fleeting comfort in light of the invincible procession of time.

Cornelius Völker was born in Kronach, Germany in 1965 and studied at the Kunstakademie Düsseldorf. He is a professor of painting at the Kunstakademie Münster. His work has been the subject of many solo museum shows throughout Germany and Europe. This is his second solo exhibition at Hosfelt Gallery.