Dietmar Brixy: WANDERLUST
A solo exhibition by the German artist at Palazzo Bembo, presented within Personal Structures – Confluences | September 13 - October 11, 2026
From September 13 through October 11, 2026, Palazzo Bembo in Venice will host Dietmar Brixy’s solo exhibition. The exhibition is part of the Personal Structures – Confluences programme, organised by European Cultural Centre Italy, concurrently with the 61st International Art Exhibition of La Biennale di Venezia. WANDERLUST marks the artist’s second time in the lagoon city of Venice, following the success of The Description of the World, held in 2024 in the Monumental Rooms of the Biblioteca Nazionale Marciana and attended by over 27,000 visitors. With a painting style characterized by layering and continuous transformation processes, Brixy offers an immersive experience where the journey becomes a metaphor for self-exploration and for the relationship between the individual and the landscape. Held within Palazzo Bembo, the exhibition presents a selection of recent works, as well as works from the Journey and Wanderlust series by the German artist, a leading figure in contemporary abstract painting.
Wanderlust 2026, Dietmar Brixy
WANDERLUST builds a layered landscape, suspended between dream and reality, whose title references the word of German origin, rooted in Romantic sensibility and ideas of nature, travel, and inner exploration. In his paintings, Dietmar Brixy captures the tension between exploration and transformation in gestural strokes, material accumulations, and chromatic movements that seem to reveal new paths through uncharted territories. Born in Mannheim in 1961, Dietmar Brixy established his studio in Mannheim, but his practice is imbued with a desire for discovery and encounter: extensive travels to Malaysia, Mexico, India, Bali, the Seychelles, and the US have deeply influenced his perception and are mirrored in the complexity and intensity of his works. The result is a pictorial exploration shaped by movement and transformation, in which the landscape serves as the starting point, becoming an expression of inner states.
Wanderlust 2026, Dietmar Brixy
The Journey series focuses on themes of movement and exploration, while the WANDERLUST cycle examines a more intimate and meditative dimension. The immersive installation Endless Journey stands out as one of the most interesting elements of the exhibition: at 3 meters (nearly 10 feet) high, the octagonal structure engages viewers, inviting them to physically enter the pictorial space and perceive painting as an immersive experience.
Brixy’s technique is based on a process consisting of successive additions, transformations, and subtractions – surfaces are worked on with brushes, spatulas, combs, and directly by hand. Through layers of colors, glazes, and breaches in the surface, each painting preserves the memory of its own evolution and uncovers the relationship between time and creation. Conceived by curator Beate Reifenscheid and organised by the non-profit Association for Art in Public, the exhibition invites visitors to move through pictorial spaces without a predetermined narrative, and to forge their own personal visual journey, revealing a dimension of permanence and resonance in the “in-between”.
Exhibition information
Preview: September 12, 2026, 5 pm, Palazzo Bembo. Featuring remarks by the artist and Prof. Beate Reifenscheid, curator of the exhibition and director of the Ludwig Museum Koblenz.
Exhibition dates: September 13 – October 11, 2026
Opening Hours: Daily 10 am – 6 pm, closed on Tuesdays
Admission: free
Press Release: Download
