Hartmut Kiewert - The Future of the Species

How does one paint a way of life? How does one find aesthetically compelling expressions that resonate both artistically and socially, without constantly wagging a moralizing finger? Hartmut Kiewert pulls it off. He is a brilliant painter, one who masterfully and effortlessly celebrates the large format and, in his smaller works—often painted en plein air—displays an impressionistic style that, were we not better informed, could easily be mistaken for art from another era. That alone would be reason enough to honor the work of this Leipzig-based artist with a solo exhibition at our art association or in southern Germany. Hartmut Kiewert masterfully employs the tools of confident representational painting to make the ethical utopia of a vegan way of life—the nonviolent coexistence of humans and animals as equals—visually tangible and conceivable.
Hartmut Kiewert’s paintings challenge us to endure a paradox: they offer us the beauty of a peaceful future while simultaneously holding up a mirror to our present.