Burgert's unique paintings are representational, detailed and almost unrivaled in terms of perfection. They captivate their observers with a palette that goes from dark to bright. Painted with the greatest precision, he creates gigantic paintings in which he develops his very own pictorial iconography. His fascinating visual language captivates us, but constantly eludes a clear interpretation. Burgert's virtuoso painted creations are puzzles that deal with cultures, both near and far, the familiar and the unknown, and often also address life and death. The grotesque and the mystical are the main themes of his art, which serves as a stage for his dream- or fantasy worlds, in which the human being always plays the leading role. Burgert's pictorial staff moves about in his unmistakable pictorial worlds, alone or in groups, at times even as a pile of people. Characters often interact with each other, but it's hard to tell what's really going on. The stage-like pictorial space in "Blattschlaf", with its ruinous staffage, is inhabited by a group of people from some sort of archaic tribe. They surround a sleeping giant, wrap him in sheets of cloth, and wave a branch of leaves above him. To Burgert it is about the image and the atmosphere of the image itself. The artist conjures up visions of an apocalyptic end time, scenes of an underworld, an unknown myth or a strange dream. The atmosphere of destruction and decay prevails in his bold and opulent paintings. In bright colors that glow against a background of earthy tones, the artist depicts a parallel world and creates general symbols of existence. Each painting resembles a carefully constructed opera or circus stage with an artificial world, complete with dramatic lighting, exotic costumes, fantastic makeup and stage props, filled with humans and animals, shamans and magicians, giants and dwarves, demons and harlequins, strangely populated by creatures both dead and alive. Burgert finds inspiration in a multitude of different ideologies and cultures. They come from postcards and literature and from the his trips to Egypt. Art history is another important source of inspiration for him, references to late Renaissance become evident in many works, especially Mannerism and its liking for the grotesque and curious. Burgert has compiled an archive of thousands of photographs over the years. He describes himself as a picture junkie. Photographs of people and animals in all kinds of situations and from a wide variety of cultures hang on the walls of an adjoining room in his studio. He collects photographically captured gestures, postures and image compositions. His love of art and his knowledge of art history characterize his own work. Since the exhibition "Storytellers" at the contemporary gallery of the Kunsthalle Hamburg in 2005, the Berlin native Jonas Burgert has been an absolute rising star of the international art scene. Once said to become successor to Neo Rauch and Daniel Richter, he has long been regarded as one of the most important contemporary artists in Germany. The latest since he was discovered by the successful patron and art dealer Charles Saatchi, he has been internationally celebrated as the master of a new German figuration. [SM]