...we cannot look directly into the sun...

Joseph Marioni, born in 1943 in Cincinnati, Ohio, was a significant figure in contemporary painting, known for his innovative approach to color and light. He moved to New York City in 1972, where he lived and worked until his passing in 2024. Marioni began cataloging his work in 1970, marking the point at which he established his identity as a painter, moving beyond his student work. His artistic journey included a progression from brightly colored dichromatic pieces to more complex dark paintings, which garnered attention and acclaim. Throughout his career, Marioni was a leading member of the Radical Painting Group during the 1970s and 1980s, alongside notable artists such as Marcia Hafif and Olivier Mosset. His work is characterized by a focus on the interaction of light and paint pigments, aiming to enhance the viewer's experience of color. Marioni's paintings are held in numerous prestigious collections worldwide, including the National Gallery in Washington, D.C., and the Whitney Museum of American Art in New York. His contributions to the art world have left a lasting impact on both twentieth and twenty-first-century painting.

Michael Toenges, born in 1952 in Pfaffenhofen/Ilm, Germany, lives and works in Cologne. For Toenges, paint is a tangible material with volume and density. His technique involves using brushes and spatulas to create furrows, valleys, and ridges in the paint. Despite the heaviness of the materials, his work conveys a sense of lightness and dynamic movement, as if the colors are striving to transcend the boundaries of the canvas. The vigorous brushstrokes exhibit energy and a desire to extend beyond the painting, challenging the perception of heaviness in art. Toenges' works have been exhibited in various countries, including Germany, Japan, Switzerland, and the United States. His recent solo exhibitions include shows at Galerie Albrecht in Berlin and Kunstverein Krefeld, as well as Taguchi Fine Art in Tokyo. His paintings are part of both public and private collections, including the Museum Wiesbaden and the Kolumba Museum in Cologne.

Peter Tollens is a modern painter born in 1954 in Kleve, Germany, who currently lives and works in Cologne. He trained as a colour lithographer from 1970 to 1973 and studied painting at Fachhochschule Köln under Professor Stefan Wewerka from 1976 to 1981. Tollens works primarily with oil paint in a pasty consistency, applying it with firm brushstrokes to flat surfaces. His work is characterized by textured, vertically-marked surfaces created through deliberate brush application, resulting in what he describes as an "activated frontal surface" that fosters visual intimacy with the viewer. His artistic practice emphasizes color as a primary statement, with well-ordered brush marks that create internal scale and structure.