Helene B. Grossmann: Before the Light

Kimreeaa Gallery is pleased to present Before the Light, a solo exhibition by German artist Helene B. Grossmann (b. 1943), on view from June 4 to June 28, 2025. Featuring 22 paintings created between 2010 and 2022, the exhibition traces Grossmann’s long-standing exploration of perception through light and color.

Born in Dresden, former East Germany, Grossmann studied at the Dresden Academy of Fine Arts. In the 1980s, while engaging deeply with Asian philosophy and culture, she faced censorship under the East German regime and ultimately chose exile. Since 1988, she has continued her artistic practice in Munich and Switzerland, consistently pursuing painting as a space for sensing and being—beyond representation or narrative.

The exhibition’s title, Before the Light, refers to the moment just before brilliance—a heightened stillness in which the senses awaken. Rather than assertive color or dazzling luminosity, her paintings open through quiet layers of light that settle gently into the surface, inviting viewers to perceive the subtle movement of color as it emerges within their own gaze.

Before the Light offers a meditative encounter with Grossmann’s painterly vision, inviting viewers into the quiet depth that unfolds in the space between color, light, and sensation.