Maxim Wakultschik: Licht wird Materie Große Solo-Show in der Galerie Ostendorff

“Through my work, I want to make the invisible layers of human existence visible.” Maxim Wakultschik

With “Light becoming Matter,” Galerie Ostendorff presents a comprehensive solo exhibition by artist Maxim Wakultschik. Approximately 70 works from various series offer insight into his multifaceted body of work, which explores the boundaries between painting, sculpture, and relief.

A special focus of the solo exhibition is on the newly developed series “Optical Portraits Prisma.” In this series, Wakultschik explores the invisible dimensions of human presence. Drawing on scientific findings about light, perception, and the complex processes that surround us, the artist explores those aspects that go beyond mere physical appearance.

Opening reception: Saturday, August 29, 2026, starting at 4:00 p.m. Dr. Alexander Leinemann, research curator at the LWL Museum Office, will speak at the opening.

The exhibition runs through September 19, 2026

At first glance, Maxim’s works appear to be classical portraits. But upon closer inspection, moments of disorientation arise: shifts, different eye colors, overlapping foreground and background planes, as well as seemingly flowing or pulsating structures dissolve the boundaries between outward appearance and perception. Streaks, flashes of light, and moving sequences point to invisible processes that normally remain hidden from the human eye.

Wakultschik views the human being not solely as a material form, but as a complex interplay of body, light, energy, emotion, and influences that are not immediately perceptible. His portraits open up an expanded view of the human figure—between physical reality and the multifaceted layers of our perception.

In other words: With “Light becoming Matter,” Maxim Wakultschik presents an artistic approach that bridges materiality and immateriality. His works explore the transition from the invisible to the visible, from light to form, and from the individual element to a complex visual world.

The artist’s distinctive—and for some, surprising—method is based on the precise arrangement of thousands of individual elements: colored wooden sticks are transformed into relief-like pictorial forms in which light and color develop their own dynamic. Depending on the viewer’s perspective, the works seem to dissolve, condense, and rearrange themselves.

In addition to works from the “Optical Portraits” series , the exhibition features relief works (“Geometrical Portraits”), pieces from the “Multipersonality” series, and selected sculptures.

Maxim Wakultschik

Maxim Wakultschik studied under Prof. Jannis Kounellis and Prof. Beate Schiff at the Düsseldorf Art Academy. After completing his art studies, he made the Rhine metropolis his adopted home.

His works have already been exhibited in New York, Austin, London, Madrid, and Hong Kong, among other places, and are part of private and institutional collections. This year, his works will again be presented at major venues in Europe and the U.S., including The Armory Show in New York in September and Art Cologne in Cologne in November. In Germany, a solo exhibition will follow in January 2027 at the Museum Modern Art Hünfeld.

For more information on Maxim Wakultschik, including exhibition dates, please visit: https://maxim-wakultschik.com/

Galerie Ostendorff, Prinzipalmarkt 11, 48143 Münster Galerie Ostendorff has been located at Prinzipalmarkt 11, right next to City Hall in Münster, for over 130 years. Andreas Gattinger has been the owner and director of the gallery, along with his team, since 1996. The gallery’s collection includes paintings, sculptures, and original prints from Classical Modernism, as well as works of international postwar art. Contemporary art from Paris, Berlin, Hamburg, and Münster rounds out the collection.