Michael Najjar

08 April, 2024

new artwork "CDF-X"

132 x 202 cm / 52 x 79.5 in and 67 x 102 cm / 26.3 x 40.2 in, edition of 6

Michael Najjar's latest artwork is a homage to the 250th birthday of Caspar David Friedrich, the most significant painter of German Romanticism. His explorations of the individual and their relationship with nature are currently bringing him back into the spotlight; in a time when we are grappling with our problematic relationship with the natural world due to climate change.

The paintings of Caspar David Friedrich lead the viewer into a world where one does not know if it is reality or fiction. In "The Great Enclosure", the uninhabited landscape with its pale watercourses, fields, and mudflats appears as foreign and unfamiliar as the topography of a distant planet. The puddles of water and sand in the lower part of the painting, reflecting the sky, appear in their symmetrical curvature like our globe seen from space, yet also embedded in the earth itself. The globe observed by the first astronauts from space, with its oceans shimmering in rainbow colors, its mountain reliefs, and enigmatic continents. Friedrich, with his unusual composition for that time, creates a virtual viewer standpoint – lifting it upwards.

The work "CDF-X" merges the painting from the early 19th century with a photograph from the early 21st century. Exactly at the horizon line, at the border between sky and earth, right in the center of the image, stands a rocket launch base. It is the massive "starship" of the American space company SpaceX, captured by the artist seconds before its launch on its very first test flight into space. This largest spacecraft ever built will one day settle humanity on a new planet, Mars. Thus, it extends Friedrich's gaze to the globe, which was not possible in his time, further to a future view of our neighboring planet, which is feasible through satellites but not yet achievable for humans themselves.

A big thank you to Albertinum | GNM, Staatliche Kunstsammlungen Dresden for granting the rights to use the image of Caspar David Friedrich’s painting "Das Große Gehege bei Dresden" (The Great Enclosure near Dresden), 1832.

new artwork "CDF-X"

Art Basel Miami Beach

new artwork "arctic streams"

Exhibition views Fotografiska Stockholm

Solo presentation at Paris Photo

Exhibition at Fotografiska Stockholm

Residency at Shanghai Museum of Glass

Lecture Astronomy Museum Shanghai

DEEP PURPLE - Scientific Expedition to Greenland

Exhibition at Kunsthalle Bahnitz

flashback: UKE Hamburg

new artwork "netropolis | shenzhen | 2024"

Interview with Space Ambition

Exhibition JUT Art Museum, Taipei

new artwork "fusion power"

ARCO Madrid

Exhibition "A Constant State of Transformation", Melbourne

Podcast "FotoPsychoLogisch"

Symposium "Enter the Future"

Exhibition at Caixa Forum, Madrid

Exhibition at ArtScience Museum, Singapore

"orbital ascent" special edition

Exhibition at BANK Gallery, Shanghai

Podcast "Fotografie neu denken"

Michael shoots at ITER Fusion Ractor in France

Nanjing Artfair, China

Wired UK magazine

Ars Electronica Festival - Who owns the truth?

Final test flight of Spaceship Unity

Civilization exhibition at Saatchi Gallery, London

Michael at the Starbase

new artwork "starbase II"

ART SG Singapore

"cool earth" exhibition at Studio la Città Gallery

Screening at COP27

Lecture at Deutsche Museum München

CIVILIZATION exhibition at Museo San Domenico

Frieze Seoul

Arctic expedition

Galería Juan Silió presents "cool earth" exhibition

New series "cool earth"

New Artwork "starbase"

mission:space re-edited version

new artwork "down to earth"

Michael visits STARBASE

New book "outer space v2"

Exhibition at Kunstmuseum Wolfsburg

Historic Spaceflight of VSS Unity

"Overview Effect" exhibition at Museum for Contemporary Art, Belgrade

Solo Exhibition "outer space" in Beijing

National Air and Space Museum aquires 3 artworks for permanent collection

New publication "Space is the Place - Current Reflections on Art and Architecture"

"outer space | portfolio box 2020" is now available

"New Classics of Mountains and Seas" Exhibition at Zhejiang Museum, China

"FUTURO" exhibition at Galleri d'Italia, Vincenza

"Space Works" exhibition at Tampere Art Museum, Finland

"CIVILIZATION" at Auckland Art Gallery, New Zealand

new artwork "crew dragon"

Large scale mural "lunar explorers"

skype interview with curator Benjamin Weil

new artwork "ascension"

"terraforming" video on view at Studio National des Arts Contemporains

VSS Unity spaceship transferred to Spaceport America

new artwork "space renaissance"

Video interview on "outer space"

"Beyond the Horizon" - exhibition at Wittenstein Innovation Factory

"outer space" exhibition opens in Shanghai

"terraforming" exhibition at Galería Juan Silio, Spain

New artwork "lunar explorers"

Photo shooting at CERN

new artwork "ignition"

"intergalactic" exhibition at BNKR in Munich

SpaceX Falcon Heavy launch

Shooting of Soyuz rocket launch in French Guiana

CIVILIZATION exhibition opened at the UCCA Beijing

Lecture at the European Space Research and Technology Center

A Bright Future - New Scientist magazine publicates the artwork "synlight"

VSS Unity - Welcome to Space !

Opening of the epic landmark exhibition „CIVILIZATION“ at Museum MCA, Seoul, South Korea

Shooting at European Space Research and Technology Centre (ESTEC)