I’ve never been very good at staying
in one lane.
Not in life.
Not in art.
I paint.
I build.
I dismantle.
I give old things a second chance.
Sometimes it’s canvas.
Sometimes vintage music sheets.
Sometimes wood, windows, mannequin hands, or whatever refuses to be thrown away.
I paint people who don’t always behave.
Bodies that try to stand.
Faces that hold two opinions at once.
I like when things shift.
When a painting can be turned
upside down.
When color refuses to be polite.
Perfection is overrated.
Presence is better.
And if something wobbles a little —
I usually let it.
— Sof
Artistic Education & Background
1987–1989
Literature and History, Lycée Henri IV / Sorbonne University, Paris1989–1993
Business Studies (Diploma), Université Paris-Dauphine Parallel studies in painting and drawing with Prof. R. Leprince, ESAG Penninghen, Paris;
Guest student at the Académie des Beaux-Arts, Paris.
Artist Statement
My work moves between abstraction and figuration, combining painting with experimental materials and upcycling elements. I explore perception, transformation, and the shifting nature of the human figure. Many works incorporate painterly forms as well as historical fragments and found materials, which are reactivated within new contexts. Humor, irony, and a poetic clin d’œil are as essential to my work as gestural energy and chromatic intensity.
Selected Solo Exhibitions
2025
Opening of Showrooms Sof, Atelier Sof, Krefeld
Heute gehe ich zu Sof!, Atelier Sof, Krefeld
Sof im Schirrhof, Kamp-Lintfort
2023
Ein Wiedersehen in Lübz. Upcycling à la Sof, VKU Forum, Berlin
2022
Sof im ZZK, Upcycling Art Prize “En marche”, Lübz
Upcycling Arbeiten, VKU Forum, Berlin
2019
Sof chez DOOO, Galerie DOOO, Krefeld
2018
À quoi bon toujours chercher un sens?, Kultur Köln 30, Cologne
2017
C’est parti!, Hessing Stiftung, Augsburg
2016
Sof… tout court, Sparkasse Saarbrücken
2015
Sof im KVNO, Düsseldorf
Sof in alle Richtungen, Higher Regional Court Düsseldorf
2009
L’homme dans tous ses états, Dürener Tor
