Johanssen-Gallery: Roman Bittner

Artists

Roman Bittner

In between the kilometre high sky scrapers bustling with zeppelins, the human is lost amongst the canyon of houses. The buildings are playfully yet brutally rendered. Many of the constructions hark back to styles from the Chicago School. The visions of the Berlin illustrator Roman Bittner have an almost stifling beauty. The series “Ancient Cities of Tomorrow”, in which he depicts a fantastical reality, has been underway for nearly a year now.

Bittner constructs a panoramic view of a utopian city based on blueprints for buildings that were never built, and thus connects visual captions from a variety of epochs with visionary designs. Based on the principles of construction and application of precise vector graphics, Bittner manages to construct a detailed depiction of an artificial universe in which we can take pleasure in moving the eye across the surface to seek and find new forms. The urban depiction of American and old German architecture allows for more discussion regarding the skyline of the city as it stands at present than what would be anticipated by Bittner’s whimsical style.

Biography

* 1971 born in Berlin (DE)

/ 1994 -2000 studies Graphic-Design at the Staatliche Akademie der Künste, Stuttgart

/ 1996 founds Graphic-Design-Studio Apfel Zet

/ currently living and working as graphic designer and illustrator in Berlin

Awards

1999 Preis der Stuttgarter Akademie

2000 Erwin-Heinle-Preis

2000 ADC Junior Award

Publications

2008 publication of his work in the french publishing house Pyramid Editions Numerous publications in das Magazin, American Express, Madriz, Zeit and FAZ

Exhibitions

2004 Studio Süd 2005 Triennale Stuttgart

2006 Illustrative Berlin 06

2007 Die Künstler der Illustrative, Galerie Johanssen, Berlin

2007 Illustrative 07 Berlin

2007 Illustrative 07 Paris