On the occasion of Gallery Weekend Berlin 2026, Buchmann Galerie is pleased to present an exhibition of works by Bernd Koberling. Painter Bernd Koberling (b. 1938 in Berlin) is among the most important and influential figures of German postwar art. 

Koberling first became known as one of the leading representatives of the West Berlin “Junge Wilde” of the 1980s. One of the aims of this self-declared new generation of artists was the “re-creation of an image out of the force of lived experience and the seen.*” Around 1990, however, Koberling moved away from the figurative furor of Neo-Expressionism and devoted himself to an intense examination of painting as a vehicle of expression between material, color, and form. Early on, the experience of landscape became a crucial point of reference for his characteristically playful struggle to renew the possibilities of painting. As a member of a generation still fighting for abstraction's legitimacy in postwar Germany, he freed himself from both ideological attributions and the restrictive abstraction/figuration dichotomy, exploring painting within the tension between innovation and continuity.

Koberling’s painterly œuvre is permeated by a persistent drive for renewal, which is strikingly evident in his most recent works. His current paintings are profoundly shaped by his perception of landscape during regular, sometimes months-long stays in Iceland. Since 1977 he has spent time there every year, and the island’s nature has decisively influenced his work. This is reflected in the chromaticity of his paintings and in the manifold possibilities of a form of painting that opens itself to its own means in order to produce works of powerful visual intensity. 

Works bearing enigmatic titles like Erdstelle (Earth Place/ Ground Point), and Moosheidegestein (Heath moss stone), position nature as metaphor for human condition in Koberling's practice. This idiosyncratic approach lent his œuvre distinctive authority, distinguishing him within landmark exhibitions including "A New Spirit in Painting" (London) and "Zeitgeist" (Berlin).

The exhibition presents, alongside large-format canvases from the years 1992 to 2026, an extensive series of watercolors characterized by intense color, broad gestural sweeps, and a consistent commitment to abstraction. “The more intimate the picture, the rougher the means,” Koberling remarks. The watercolors constitute major groups of works and reveal the mystical-romantic side of the artist. 

Koberling’s works are held in numerous public and private collections, including: Bayerische Staatsgemäldesammlungen; Kunstsammlung Deutsche Bank; FRAC Nord-Pas-de-Calais, Dunkerque, France; Hamburger Bahnhof – Museum für Gegenwart, Berlin; Museum Ludwig, Cologne; Museum Würth, Künzelsau; Munich Re Art Collection; Nasjonalmuseet, Oslo, Norway; Nordiska Akvarellmuseet, Skärhamn, Sweden; the Ulla and Heiner Pietzsch Collection, Berlin; the Art Collection of the German Bundestag; Sprengel Museum, Hanover; Städel Museum, Frankfurt am Main; Reykjavik Art Museum; and Vancouver Art Gallery, Vancouver. 

For further information about the artist and the exhibition, please contact: press@buchmanngalerie.com

* Quote from a 1961 leaflet issued by the artists’ group Vision, in whose ranks Koberling was active. The group, whose members were instrumental in paving the way for the “Junge Wilde” of the 1980s, remained active until 1965.