Damien & The Love Guru

Even among an extraordinary generation of figurative painters, Marwitz stands out for his distinctive, challenging visual idiom. Elegiac, myth-laden motifs, often borrowed from Greco-Roman funerary reliefs, stage a disturbing feast of physicality. The Brussels based artist uses a caustic palette and a painting style that combines old techniques with contemporary appeal.

Education

• De Ateliers, Amsterdam, 2015
• Städelschule, Frankfurt a.M., 2012–2013
• Hochschule für Bildende Künste, Hamburg, 2007–2012

Upcoming

• Trautwein Herleth, Berlin

Solo & duo exhibitions

• FISH fish, Damien & The Love Guru, Zurich, 2026
• Concilium, with Christiane Blattmann, Damien & The Love Guru, Palazzo Grasselli, Cremona, 2025
• Onions 2, The Tail, Brussels, 2024
• Doorbell rings - all paintings hide, Lucas Hirsch, Dusseldorf, 2023
• Onions, Damien & The Love Guru, Brussels, 2021
• The Raid, Barbara Weiss, Berlin, 2021
• ROD, with Raphaela Vogel, Kantine, Brussels, 2021
• Diananess, with Christiane Blattmann, Le Berceau, Marseille, 2021
• Kündigung, Lucas Hirsch, Dusseldorf, 2020
• Slug’s Arrest, Sundy, London, 2019
• Narch till June, Kunstverein Dortmund, 2019
• Bonaventura Jannis Marwitzle, Damien & The Love Guru, Brussels, 2018
• Like Unhappy Fruit, Lucas Hirsch, Dusseldorf, 2018
• D.E.L.F, Vienna, 2017
• The Year Is Over Now, Marwan, Amsterdam, 2016
• Herz und Mund und Tat und Leben, Twenty Years, Berlin, 2015
• Baby Birds, with Christiane Blattmann, Dorothea Schlueter, Hamburg, 2015
• New State Of The Birds, with Christiane Blattmann, Apes & Castles, Brussels, 2015
• Forehead, Bad Bentheim, 2014

Selected group exhibitions

• Painting after Painting, S.M.A.K., Gent, 2025
• 9th Biennial of Painting, Museum Dhondt-Dhaenens, Deurle, 2024
• Collectie van M, Museum M, Leuven, 2024
• An Account of the Luck and Misfortunes of ______, Etablissement d’en Face, Brussels, 2024
• Various Small Paintings, Lore Deutz, Cologne, 2023
• Palai, Lecce, 2023
• Ugly Painting, Nahmad Contemporary, New York, 2023
• Elizabeth Costello, Louis Reed, New York, 2023
• la proie et l’ombre, Crèvecoeur, Paris, 2022
• Look, Lightning Has Struck the Flowers, SUNDY, London, 2022
• La réforme de Pooky, Kunsthalle Fribourg, 2022
• Jahresgaben, Kunstverein für die Rheinlande und Westfalen, Dusseldorf, 2021
• Sweet Lies, Ludwig Forum, Aachen, 2021
• Matchmaker, hosted by Damien & The Love Guru for Various Others, Loggia, Munich, 2021
• Jahresgaben, Kunstverein Dortmund, 2019
• Guten Morgen, Europa!, A Tale Of A Tub, Rotterdam, 2019
• Where Do Streams Run To?, hosted by Damien & The Love Guru and Lucas Hirsch, Conceptual Fine Arts, Milan, 2019
• The Chasm, Franz-Josefs Kai 3/17, Vienna, 2019
• Don Quixote, Barbara Weiss, Berlin, 2018
• Metamorphoseon, Sultana, Paris, 2018
• Friend of a Friend, hosted by Lucas Hirsch for FOAF, Chert Lüdde, Berlin, 2018
• SM, Sans Titre 2016, Marseille, 2018
• B-sides & Rarities, Damien & The Love Guru, Brussels, 2017
• Aby Warburg Mnemosyne Bilderatlas, 8. Salon, Hamburg, 2017
• Augury, BQ, Berlin, 2016
• Aby Warburg Mnemosyne Bildatlas, ZKM Karlsruhe, 2016
• Grand Café, Apes & Castles, Brussels, 2016
• Micro Celebrities, Just Married, Brussels, 2016
• Function Creep, De Ateliers, Amsterdam, 2015
• Plus Jamais Seul, Standards, Rennes, 2013
• Collision Course, Sodom & Gomorrah, Amsterdam, 2013
• Exclusively für Alle, Prince of Wales, Munich, 2013
• De Ateliers, Amsterdam, 2013
• Say My Name, Say My Name, MMK, Frankfurt a.M., 2013
• Erection Painting, Beyoncé, Amsterdam, 2013
• Kunstraum München, Munich, 2012
• Afraid to be Good, Lost Projects, Quezon City, 2012
• Schlagstock durch Aura kaufen, Kunstkammer, Schlieren, 2012
• Skeletons of Beer, Pablo Gallery, Manila, 2011
• Moment gewonnen, Ventilazione, Vienna, 2011
• Berlin Klondyke, The Odd Gallery, Dawson, 2011
• EST-EST-EST, Lacoste, France, 2011
• Attraktiv.Editionen, Prince of Wales, Munich, 2011

Art fairs

• Art Basel, Trautwein Herleth, 2024
• Liste Art Fair Basel,Lucas Hirsch, 2024
• Art Cologne, Clages, Damien & The Love Guru, 2022

Grants and awards

• Bad Bentheim Ruisdael Stipend, 2014
• Städelschule Linklaters Award, Frankfurt a.M., 2013

Related activities

• Extra Academy – Jannis Marwitz (talk), Stadsform, Antwerpen, 2026
• On Painting: Talks by Day, Performances by Night, Panel discussion, S.M.A.K., 2025
• Artist-run space Marais/Moeras, Brussels, since 2023
• Co-organiser of exhibition, with Christiane Blattmann, Sundy, London, 2022
• Exhibition project in public space Betongalerie, with Christiane Blattmann, Hamburg, 2011–2013
• Co-organiser of screening Dieter Froese, with Christiane Blattmann, Rome, 2012
• Co-founder of exhibition space Die Reliktion, with Christiane Blattmann, Golden Pudel Club, Hamburg, 2009–2013

• Pfeil magazine #18, magazine contribution, Montez Press, London, 2024
• Le Chauffage, Issue 3, Brussels/Vancouver, magazine contribution, 2024
• Ghost Image, exhibition catalog, Galerie Judin, Berlin, 2024
• Der Körper selbst ist auch schon ein Raum, exhibition catalog, Dortmunder Kunstverein, 2024
• Ugly Painting, exhibition catalog, Nahmad Contemporary, New York, 2023
• Various Small Paintings, exhibtion catalog, Lore Deutz, Edition Taube, Cologne, 2023
• Jannis Marwitz – The Raid, exhibition catalog, Galerie Barbara Weiss, Berlin, 2021
• Jannis Marwitz – Narch Till June / Närz bis April, exhibition catalog, Dortmunder Kunstverein, 2020
• Pfeil magazine #10, magazine contribution, Montez Press, London, 2018
• i apologize #1, magazine contribution, 2018
• Augury, exhibition catalog, BQ Publication, Berlin, 2016
• Function Creep, exhibition catalog, De Ateliers, Amsterdam, 2015
• Christiane Balttmann, Jannis Marwitz – LET‘S ALL BECOME ME!, Edition kunstwegen/raumsichten, 2014
• Say my Name, Say my Name, exhibition catalog, MMK, Frankfurt a.M., 2013
• Der Pfeil / Zeigefinger Magazin #1, magazine contribution, Montez Press, London / Hamburg, 2012
• Vandel 7: Sozialgestaltung: Liebe plus Friedhof, Edition Hospitalhof, Stuttgart, 2011
• Serie, Kartoffelverlag, Hamburg, 2010
• VANDEL #5, Kartoffelverlag, Hamburg, 2009
• VANDEL #1, Kartoffelverlag, Hamburg, 2008

• ‘Jannis Marwitz at Lucas Hirsch,’ by Moritz Scheper, Artforum, 2024
• Seeing & Believing: Christian Imagery in Painting Now, Art in America, 2022
• ‘Paris+ Art Fair Opens: More Corporate, Less French,’ New York Times, 2022
• Pooky’s Reform, Art Viewer, 2022
• ‘A Minibar Mascot and Other Berlin Gallery Weekend – Highlights by Camila McHugh,’ Mousse Magazine, 2021
• Onions, Mousse Magazine, 2021
• Onions, GalleriesNow, 2021
• Onions, Agenda Brussels, 2021
• Matchmaker, Art Viewer, 2021
• ‘Jannis Marwitz, The Raid,’ Jens Asthoff, KUNSTFORUM International, Bd. 275, 2021
• Kündigung, Contemporary Art Daily, 2020
• ‘Jannis Marwitz at Dortmunder Kunstverein,’ Moritz Scheper, Art Review, 2020
• ‘Myth Kissed and Foam-Born: Jannis Marwitz,’ Moritz Scheper, Mousse Magazine, 2019
• ‘Three Writings on Jannis Marwitz,’ Piero Bisello, Conceptual Fine Arts, 2019
• ‘Portait by Dietrich Roeschmann,’ Artline, 2019
• ‘Slanted and Enchanted: Oriane Durand on the Year in Shamanism and Superstition,’ Oriane Durand, Frieze, 2018
• ‘https://www.frieze.com/article/jannis-marwitz,’ by Mitch Speed, Frieze Magazine, #193, 2017
• The Year Is Over Now, Critic’s Guide, Gabriela Acha, Frieze Magazine, 2016