Sebastian Hosu

Sebastian Hosu

"Sebastian Hosu - Artist Portrait" / (c) Maximilian Teucher

Biography

Sebastian Hosu (*1988 in Satu Mare, RO), (he/his), visual artist of Romanian ethnical background, grew up in Romania and lived in several countries of choice, currently based in Leipzig, Germany. He studied Fine Arts in Cluj-Napoca, Romania, at the University of Fine Arts and Design, and at the Accademia Albertina di Belle Arti in Turin, Italy (2008-2010). A master‘s degree in painting at the Académie Royale des Beaux-Arts in Liège, Belgium (2011-2012) was followed by a master student program at the HGB in Leipzig, Germany (2013-2016). Hosu‘s work has already attracted much attention at home and abroad, including solo exhibitions at the Museum der bildenden Künste in Leipzig in 2018, the Kunstverein Freunde aktueller Kunst in Zwickau in 2019 and two group presentations at the G2 Kunsthalle in Leipzig (in 2023 and a recent one in 2025), furthermore in the No Hero Museum in Delden, Netherland (2024), and the National Museum oft Art Romania in Bucharest, Romania (2024). His paintings and drawings are already represented in important private and public collections. His works are presented and collected internationally. Most recently, Sebastian Hosu‘s works were presented in solo exhibitions in Hong Kong, Bucharest, Leipzig and Berlin. Sebastian Hosu lives and works in his studio in the 10-hectare Leipzig‘s Baumwollspinnerei, one of the most interesting artistic centers and exhibition venues for contemporary art and painting in Europe.

"Sebastian Hosu - Writing down free-thinking notes directly on the wall, while painting." / (c) Sebastian Hosu 2023

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Artistic disciplines:

• Painting
• Drawing
• Installation (murals)

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Process

Sebastian Hosu works with the wet-on-wet technique. To do this, technical expertise, decisiveness and intuition must come together at the right moment. Several layers of paint are quickly pushed over or next to each other before they dry. His aim is to condense the canvas—intensifying its presence—while at the same time allowing it the freedom to breathe. The painted space and the relationships between form and color are at the center of his artistic practice. But there is nothing cerebral, nothing artificially theoretical. On the contrary: inklings of human bodies become more concrete or more abstract. They materialize or dissolve. It‘s about different degrees of presence. He seeks to evoke this presence through the act of painting itself, capturing the movement and singular energy of the lived moment and rendering it palpable to the viewer, thus giving rise to new realities.

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Notable themes

Recurring theme in Sebastian Hosu's is the relation between society and it's environment, the human in connection or disconnection with nature. The artist interrogates reality and the human figure within the vast cosmology. For him, nature is not merely a motif but a presence — archetypal, at times illustrative, yet always alive—captured in paint as movement and lived energy. Through this presence, he opens a space in which the viewer may encounter the moment anew, as a renewed reality. His work revolve around fundamental questions: What is nature? Does it precede us, or are we inseparable from it, one to which we belong? Is it a long-time lost experiential surrounding, replaced by today’s virtual simulacra? The paintings attempt to respond not through rational discourse but through the medium’s own visceral logic. Echoing memories of an elemental nature surface in his images, where human bodies, like landscapes, seem suffused with a primordial force—as though the rupture between nature and culture had never occurred. Though incomplete, at times fragmented, the bodies are never deformed; they are seized by a sweeping current, absorbed into the landscape just as the landscape folds back into them. Each nourishes the other. Consequently, the distinctions between figure and space dissolve, yielding a continuum where body and terrain exist as one. ”I am questioning how human and nature are still coming together in a landscape we can perceive with all the sense of digital experience we have today. I am searching for a language in painting that reflects on this question on an emotional scale.” (-artist note, 2025)

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Works in collections and public recognition

• exhibited nationally and internationally, at museums, public institutions and art galleries.
• works in public institutions collections and private collections.

Works in private collections in Germany, Romania, France, Belgium, England, Hong Kong, Singapore, Dubai, USA. Works in institutional collections such as Hildebrand Collection (G2 Kunsthalle), Leipzig, Germany, Collection of the Museums der bildenden Künste (MdbK), Leipzig, Germany, State Collections, Dresda, Germany, Collection of the Technical University in Darmstadt, Germany.

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Selected exhibitions

1.Selected solo exhibitions

• 2025 - solo exhibition, Transmission, Volery Galerie, Dubai
• 2025 - solo exhibition, This Space Between Us, Philipp Anders Galerie, Leipzig, Germany
• 2024 - solo exhibition, Starcatcher, Galerie Duve, Berlin, Germany
• 2024 - solo exhibition, Into the Blue Void, Galerie Rundgaenger, Frankfurt, Germany
• 2023 - solo exhibition, Event Horizon, Galerie Philipp Anders, Leipzig, Germany
• 2023 - solo exhibition, Picnic by the Wayside, Gallery Anca Poterasu, Bucharest, Romania
• 2022 - solo exhibition, In My Inner Place, Double Q Gallery, Hong Kong
• 2022 - solo exhibition, Ballad for Space Lovers, Galerie Philipp Anders, Leipzig, Germany
• 2020 - solo exhibition, In The Open, Rutger Brandt Gallery, Amsterdam, Netherland
• 2020 - solo exhibition, Out There, Josef Filipp Galerie, Leipzig, Germany
• 2019 - solo exhibition, Leisure Life, Anca Poterașu Gallery, Bucharest, Romania
• 2018 - solo exhibition, Green Meat, Museum der bildenden Künste Leipzig (MdbK), Leipzig, Germany
• 2018 - solo exhibition, Outscape, Josef Filipp Galerie, Leipzig, Germany
• 2017 - solo exhibition, New images, Josef Filipp Galerie, Leipzig, Germany
• 2015 - solo exhibition, Natural Selection, Uhlig Gallery, Westpol A.I.R. Space, Leipzig, Germany
• 2015 - solo exhibition, Sun Outside, KAAD, Bonn, Germany
• 2015 - solo exhibition, Backstage Painting, Bükü-Galerie, Leipzig, Germany

2.Selected group exhibitions

• 2024 - group exhibition, Dissonance, Plattform Germany, curated by Christoph Tannert/ Mark Gisbourne), National Gallery, Bucharest, Romania
• 2024 - group exhibition, Dissonance, Plattform Germany, curated by Christoph Tannert/ Mark Gisbourne), Stadtgalerie Kiel, Germany
• 2023 - group exhibition, Leap Beneft Auction, Langen Foundation, Neuss, Germany
• 2022 - group exhibition, Mixed Feelings, Hildebrand Collection, G2 Kunsthalle, Leipzig, Germany
• 2019 - two persons exhibition, In the light of a lake [Fluid Projekt], with Rosi Steinbach, Kunstverein Freunde Aktueller Kunst, Zwickau, Germany
• 2019 - group exhibition, WIN WIN, Kulturstiftung des Freistaates Sachsen, Leipzig Germany

3.Art biennales, museum retrospectives, comprehensive retrospective exhibitions, art fairs

• 2025 - group exhibition, Sphinx, 10 Jahre G2 Kunsthalle – Sammlung Hildebrand «, Leipzig, Germany
• 2018 - group exhibition, 25. Leipziger – Jahresausstellung – SILBER, Leipziger Baumwollspinnerei Werkschauhalle/ Halle 12 Leipzig, Germany

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Artistic Residencies, Art Researches, Collaborations, Art Projects

• 2024, Collaborations with artworks for the movie "Caraoke", by F. Günther
• 2022, Collaborations with artworks for the movie "Lisbeth, mein Lisbeth", by F. Günther
• 2022, Stipend - Neustart Kultur Stipendium, Germany
• 2021, Award - Finalist for the Walter Koschatzky Award, Viena, Austria
• 2019, Award - The Elisabeth Greenshields Award, Canada
• 2017, Award - The Elisabeth Greenshields Award, Canada
• 2015, Award - 10. Kunstpreis Wesseling, 1st Prize, Germany
• 2015, Award - ArtWalk, 1st Prize, Leipzig, Germany
• 2014 – 2016, Stipend - KAAD Stipend, Germany
• 2012, Award - The Elisabeth Greenshields Award, Canada
• 2012, Award - Price Horlait, Brussels, Belgia
• 2012, Award - Finalist Herelbeke Prijs Beeldende Kunsten, Belgia
• 2006, Award - Drawing on ecology, 1st Prize, Satu Mare, Romania
• 2006, Award - National Painting Olympiad [Competition], Timisoara, Romania

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Selected works

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  Aquarius, 2023, oil on canvas, 280 x 180 cm - (c) Sebastian Hosu 2023

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  Picnic by the Wayside, installation (mural painting), oil on canvas, 380 x 490 cm - (c) Anca Poterasu Gallery, Bucharest 2023

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  In the golden center, 2023, charcoal and oil on paper, 52 x 32 cm - (c) Sebastian Hosu 2023

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  On green floor III, 2019, charcoal and oil on paper, 69.5 x 61.5cm - (c) Sebastian Hosu 2019

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  Moon Walker, 2024, oil on canvas, 2024 - (c) Sebastian Hosu 2024

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Exhibition views

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  View from Green Meat first institutional solo show at Museum der bildenden Künste Leipzig (MdbK) 05. – 07.2018 (c) Museum der bildenden Künste Leipzig (MdbK) 2018

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  View from the Picnic by the Wayside solo show, installation (mural painting), oil on canvas, 380 x 490 cm, second solo show at the Anca Poterașu Gallery, 07. - 08.2023 - (c) Anca Poterasu Gallery, Bucharest 2023

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  View from the STARCATCHER solo show at DUVE Berlin Gallery, 03 – 04.2024 - (c) DUVE Berlin Gallery 2024

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  View from TRANSMISSION solo show at Volery Gallery, Dubai, 09. - 10.2025 (c) Volery Gallery, Dubai 2025

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  View from This Space Between Us solo show at Philipp Anders Gallery, Leipzig 05. - 06.2025 (c) Philipp Anders Gallery, Leipzig 2025

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Publications

1.Published books

NA

2.Published articles in journals & magazines

NA

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Curating activity (Artist as curator)

NA

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Catalogues

• 2022 - Catalog „Ballad for Space Lovers‘‘, published by Kerber Verlag, Texts: Anka Ziefer and Christoph Tannert, ISBN: 978-3-7356-0844-4
• 2018 – Catalog „Green Meat“, Texts: Tina Simon, for the Solo-Show in the Museum der bildenden Künste Leipzig, ISBN: 978-39819890-0-7

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Press

• 2024 - Berliner Zeitung, Nummer 70. „An der Grenze zur Bewegung‘‘ von Ingeborg Ruthe
• 2023 - ZEIT-Beilage CHRIST & WELT. (S. 6). „Die Bilder meines Lebens‘‘ von Prof. Ulrich Engel
• 2023 - Mitteldeutsche Zeitung, „Kunst in alter Nudelfabrik“, von Yvette Meinhardt
• 2020 - Revista Arta: „The Winter of Painting“, Text von Adriana Oprea
• 2020 - Leipziger Volkszeitung, „Erinnerungen an die Natur: Was Sebastian Hosu in seinen Bildern thematisiert“ von Daniel Thalheim
• 2020 - Leipziger Volkszeitung, „Keine Schwarzmalerei“ von Jens Kessner
• 2020 - Revista Arta, „Where About Now“ - Leisure Life Bucharest
• 2018 - Leipziger Volkszeitung, „Sebastian Hosu zeigt aufgefrischtes Fleisch“, von Jens Kessner
• 2018 - Sebastian Hosu, DILLINGER Magazine

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Gallery Representation

• Anca Poterașu Gallery, Bucharest, Romania, under coordination of Anca Poterașu
• Double Q Gallery, Hong Kong, under coordination of Queenie Rosita Law
• Gallery Philipp Anders, Leipzig, Germany

For further commercial and non-commercial inquiries, feel free to contact NPK

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Social Media Links

• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sebastian_hosu
• Website: http://www.sebastian-hosu.com/ http://www.sebastian-hosu.com/]

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Hashtags

(artistic practices, currents, techniques, themes - applicable hashtags for this artist)

abstract expressionism, actionism, artist studio
body art
calligraphy, charcoal drawing, collage, collecting
double understanding, drawing
external view
figurative, future-telling
gestural
improvisation, installation, internal view
landscape, litography
organic
painting, pigment, plastic, plein-air, poetry
ritual
solastagia, soundscape

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Compatible and inspirational artists:

(artist-mentioned reference list)

• Chaim Soutine ("for the way he sees the people and bodies in general; his paintings convey a strong sense of necessity, that I personally feel and is very attractive to me." -artist note)
• Amadeo Modigliani
• Peter Doig
• Max Beckman
• Velasquez
• Frank Auerback

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