JOHANNES ULRICH KUBIAK

Marginal Benefit

14.05 - 20.06.2026

Finissage: Saturday 20 June, 2 - 6 pm

Marginal Benefit marks Johannes Ulrich Kubiak’s third solo exhibition at Eva Steynen Gallery and opens during Antwerp Art Weekend 2026. The show presents a new body of large paintings on canvas and smaller works on paper, unfolding through colour, rhythm, and attentive perception.. The title alludes to the incremental nature of his practice, where meaning and perception emerge through accumulation rather than declaration.

Each work begins with an intuitive underdrawing that establishes a rhythmic framework and simultaneously forms the basis for looking at what gradually emerges on the surface. Through the interplay of linear structures and translucent layers of pigment, forms and possible figurations slowly appear, only to dissolve again. Kubiak’s brushstrokes — fine, precise, and cumulative — function as drawing tools, generating chromatic fields in which line, structure, and figure remain in continuous interaction.

The paintings operate through restraint: motifs emerge and recede without stabilising into fixed imagery, leaving perception in flux. Depth, rhythm, and tonal modulation unfold gradually, rewarding sustained attention, situating the viewer in a contemplative, process-based encounter.

For this exhibition, Kubiak introduces subtle architectural interventions, extending selected works beyond the wall. This shift allows the paintings to engage more directly with the surrounding space, where structure, perception, and movement unfold in relation.

Kubiak’s practice develops a consistent pictorial language in which historical painting techniques are connected to modern abstraction. At the same time, his work is not concerned with fixed representation, but with the conditions of seeing itself. In the subtle oscillation between appearance and disappearance, his oeuvre affirms painting as a space of sustained perception.

Johannes Ulrich Kubiak (b. 1961, D) after living and working in Berlin, lives and works since 2018 in Antwerp; his works have been presented in exhibitions across Europe and are held in private and public collections including Deutsche Bank, Bundesbank, Kunstsammlung Sachsen, and the Berlinische Galerie, BMLK, Frankfurt (D).

(NL)

Marginal Benefit markeert Johannes Ulrich Kubiaks derde solotentoonstelling bij Eva Steynen Gallery en opent tijdens Antwerp Art Weekend 2026. De tentoonstelling brengt een nieuwe reeks grote schilderijen op doek en kleinere werken op papier samen, waarin vormen en structuren zich geleidelijk ontvouwen via kleur, ritme en aandachtige waarneming. De titel verwijst naar de langzame opbouw van Kubiaks praktijk, waarin betekenis en perceptie ontstaan door accumulatie eerder dan door expliciete stellingname.

Elk werk vertrekt vanuit een intuïtieve ondertekening die een ritmisch raamwerk vastlegt en tegelijk de basis vormt voor het kijken naar wat zich geleidelijk op het doek aandient. Door het samenspel van lijnen en translucide pigmentlagen doemen vormen en mogelijke figuraties langzaam op, om vervolgens opnieuw te vervagen. Kubiaks penseelstreken — fijn, precies en cumulatief — functioneren als tekentools die chromatische velden genereren waarin lijn, structuur en waarneming voortdurend in wisselwerking staan.

De schilderijen werken vanuit terughoudendheid: motieven verschijnen en lossen weer op zonder zich te fixeren tot figuratieve beelden, waardoor de vormen in beweging blijven. Diepte, ritme en tonale modulatie ontvouwen zich langzaam en vragen om een aandachtige, contemplatieve manier van kijken.

Voor deze tentoonstelling introduceert Kubiak subtiele architecturale ingrepen, waardoor geselecteerde werken zich ook buiten de wand presenteren. Deze verschuiving laat de schilderijen directer in dialoog treden met de omringende ruimte, waar structuur, perceptie en beweging zich relationeel ontwikkelen.

Kubiaks praktijk ontwikkelt een consistente beeldtaal waarin historische schildertechnieken verbonden worden met moderne abstractie. Tegelijk richt zijn werk zich niet op vaste representatie, maar op wat zich op het doek voordoet, op het kijken zelf. In de subtiele oscillatie tussen verschijnen en verdwijnen bevestigt zijn oeuvre de schilderkunst als een picturaal veld van geconcentreerde waarneming.

Johannes Ulrich Kubiak (°1961, D) woont en werkt sinds 2018 in Antwerpen, voordien woonde hij in London, V.S.A. en 37 jaar in Berlijn. Zijn werk werd gepresenteerd in tentoonstellingen in Europa en maakt deel uit van publieke collecties zoals Deutsche Bank, Bundesbank, Kunstsammlung Sachsen, and the Berlinische Galerie, BMLK, Frankfurt (D).

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Yves Joris about the exhibition Marginal Benefit 

"(...)

Marginal Benefits — the exhibition's title — is an economic term. It refers to the additional gain obtained by consuming, investing or risking one extra unit. In standard theory, that benefit tends towards zero as you progress, with each additional unit yielding less than the previous one. Eventually, the return on taking another step becomes negligible. You stop. You remain.

What, then, is the marginal benefit of revolution?

Kubiak does not answer that question — that would be too easy. Instead, he poses it on the canvas. In the slow accumulation of brushstrokes, in the patience with which meaning emerges without explicit declaration, lies a quiet critique of any art that seeks immediately to impress, instantly to persuade or effortlessly to move. His visual language operates precisely like the tragedy of Frank and April: the sum of small, seemingly rational decisions leads imperceptibly yet inevitably towards an overwhelming field of orange. You never calculated the marginal benefit of each adjustment. You failed to notice how the colour gradually gained dominance, day after day, layer after layer, until nothing else could fit beside it.

The work of Johannes Ulrich Kubiak is quiet in the way a river is quiet: everything is in continuous motion, yet you only hear it when you stand very close to the surface. Marginal Benefits is an exhibition that compels precisely that kind of standing — close, for a long time, with the willingness to allow something to emerge. And should you doubt whether the effort is worthwhile, Revolutionary Road is there to remind you of everything you should have done long ago."

Read the full article in ENG via link here and in NL via link here.

M HKA - On the Spot

Koen Theys 'Personal Odradek', 1997 - M HKA-Collection

We are honoured to present Koen Theys', Personal Odradek as part of M HKA On the Spot. Together with 30 Antwerp art galleries, art spaces and Muhka we show what connects us. From 14 May to 20 June 2026, works from the Muhka-collection will be on view in 30 galleries and art spaces across the city. Together, we underline the importance of this unique collection: as the heart of the museum, a driver for the arts field and a major asset for Antwerp. Also on view during Antwerp Art Weekend.

Odradek is a fictional creature from Franz Kafka’s short story Die Sorge des Hausvaters. It resembles a spool of thread and dwells in the basements near people. The Odradek does nothing, barely lives, and has no purpose whatsoever. Koen Theys has applied this principle to his work and life. Personal Odradek is a tangle of wire from which images of all works made by Koen Theys between 1987 and 1997 are suspended.