Alina Grasmann
The Grand Buffet at Haus Schminke
September 30 – October 06, 2023
Fridman Gallery is honored to announce Alina Grasmann’s The Grand Buffet.
The Grand Buffet is an homage to, and a celebration of, Haus Schminke, an iconic example of organic architecture in Saxony, Germany designed by Hans Scharoun. A prime example of classical modernism, Haus Schminke has become another site of play and inspiration for Grasmann. As before, she works with the interiors and exteriors of real spaces, adding layers of mythologies, riddles, and personal touches.
It’s a party at Haus Schminke and in The Grand Buffet! Scharoun wanted to make the home a fun experience for the children living in it, incorporating slides, hatches to climb out of, and colorful peepholes. In her paintings, Grasmann echoes this playful touch by hiding objects amongst the household items, having Looney Tunes playing on the televisions, and grappling with the dramatic light and shadows. The series functions as a multi-layered still-life, taking the viewer on a journey through the home and the mind of the artist. As the children of Haus Schminke’s past ran around the space creating their own adventures, the viewer too is having a playful experience interacting with Grasmann’s work, finding all the hidden gems within.
(from the series „House of the spirits“), 2025,
Oil on canvas, 47 x 63 in.
Exhibition Programming
Opening reception • September 30, 2023 • 7pm
Alina Grasmann is a realist painter whose large-scale, site-specific series blur fact and fiction. Her works are inspired by her travels, American architecture, film, and literature. Each series contains about 10–15 paintings, all based on specific locations. Grasmann researches places and then visits them in real life, recording her experiences and the atmosphere through photographs.
Drawn to the narratives of each place, she compares the reality and sensation of the place with the way she imagined it would be, then makes interventions by changing or adding objects, or erasing parts. Rather than illustrating existing myths about a place, she aims to create space for association so new stories emerge.
Grasmann lives and works in Munich, Germany, having studied at the prestigious Academy of Fine Arts in Munich and at the University of Applied Arts in Vienna. Grasmann’s work has been exhibited at several museums in Germany, including Kunstverein München, Galerie der Künstler, and Hubert Burda Media.