Looking beyond color, Harry Bauer conjured a dialogue between materials, gestures, and emotions through his painting. His work rests on the teachings of Informel and gestural abstraction, as well as on the insights discovered by luminaries such as Jean Dubuffet and Antoni Tàpies. However, his practice is his own. In it, we find a raw, tactile energy inviting us to reach beyond the gaze and – to feel.
Heavily material-based, Bauer’s paintings are created with corrugated cardboard, rust, bitumen, and packing paper, alongside pigment, acrylic, and charcoal. Highly textural, this material is integral to his visual language. Through layering, scratching, and assembling, he produces surfaces that are dense, palpable, and brimming with energy. Every canvas becomes a field where emotion collides with structure, where improvisation meets compositional clarity.
In a poetic extension of his practice, Bauer writes short stories about his works, accessible to visitors via QR codes beside each piece. This feature made a strong impression at ARTMUC in Munich and adds a literary dimension to his painting.
Harry Bauer – 0004 Serie Q, o.T., 50h x 50b cm, Acryl auf Leinwand, Papier, Karton, 2024
From Experiment to Signature
For over thirty years, Bauer has crossed traditional boundaries with his art. He started with monotypes, linocuts, and watercolors, and then quickly moved into experiments with reliefs, material paintings, and installations. What remains constant is his drive to question: to challenge rigid forms, to let them dissolve, and to rebuild them through abstraction.
Bauer often leaves his works untitled, not wanting to influence interpretation. Hence, the space for viewers’ imagination remains open and personalized to each observer. This humble practice is central to his philosophy: painting should not dictate meaning but ignite curiosity.
Harry Bauer – 0001 Serie Q, o.T., 50h x 50b cm, Acryl auf Leinwand, Papier, Karton, 2024
Condensation and Clarity
In terms of visual language, Bauer’s practice has moved from the impulsive energy of large-scale, material-heavy works toward a calmer, more condensed expression. Over time, we can detect the emergence of forms, giving his compositions a sense of calm structure.
There is still a tension between spontaneity and structure at the core of his work, refined into compositions of striking clarity.
Bauer describes his studio process as a “flow until exhaustion,” a continual struggle between contradiction and harmony, aggression and serenity. His works stand as counterpoints to digital ephemerality: they are analog, tactile, and insistently physical.
To stand before his canvases is to encounter an open world: surfaces alive with stories, contradictions, and discoveries.
Harry Bauer – 0003 Serie Q, o.T., 50h x 50b cm, Acryl auf Leinwand, Filz, Draht, 2025
Harry Bauer at Discovery Art Fair Frankfurt 2025
This November, Bauer will present a new selection of works at the Discovery Art Fair Frankfurt, offering visitors an opportunity to experience the intensity and material richness of his latest series.
From recent “New Entry” canvases to pieces from his Serie Q, the works showcase the artist’s ongoing exploration of texture, space, and form.
Join us in Frankfurt from 7 to 9 November 2025 to engage with Harry Bauer’s work in person at his booth at the Discovery Art Fair and find the power of painting in its rawest, most immediate form.