Using the vocabulary of a globalized landscape, Diego Herman explores the notions of property, habitat and alterity in his paintings. Through the representation of well-known industrial elements from the urban and suburban territory, he depicts both familiar and alienating environments. Fascinated by the importance of limits and boundaries in the way we think about space, he has been working with the motif of the fence as a strong symbol of the obstruction to the free movement of bodies. Despite the absence of the human figure, Diego Herman composes socio-political landscapes. His paintings raise consciousness about contemporary issues on displacement, identity and humanity. By painting his recurring motifs, such as barriers and borders, abandoned spaces and wild animals, in an unnatural color palette, his paintings transcend the ordinary and become a face of our society.
Diego Herman (b1994, Brussels) grew up in a Belgian-Mexican household, he currently lives and works in Brussels. After graduating in 2021 at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Brussels, with a master's degree in painting, he was an artist in residence at Moonens Foundation, Brussels (2021-2022) and at Carrefour des arts, Brussels (2022-2023). Among others, his work was presented at Iselp Brussels on the occasion of ‘New horizons in painting’ (2022)