The practice of this young artist, who graduated with distinction from the academies in Vienna and Munich, moves between sculpture, installation, and graphic exploration. Starting with training as a wood sculptor, he has developed a working method in which materiality, fragments, and memory play central roles.
What remains when a place disappears – when surfaces on which generations have worn themselves are replaced, disposed of, covered over?”
Kaplan starts precisely there: with the material and metaphorical traces that are inscribed in wood, concrete and glass.
He explores how time, use, and memory are reflected in materials and can be translated into new spatial constellations. His wall objects made of cast concrete, German oak, spruce, or fragile, twisted glass (SKINs) follow a serial logic – repetitively and uniformly placed, yet never identical.
In detail, traces of manipulation, cracks, and surface resistances are revealed, signs of a vibrant relationship between the work and its environment. As a third-generation immigrant artist in Germany, Kaplan explores questions of belonging, origin, and difference. His materials do not depict these themes illustratively, but rather as sedimented layers of a shared history.
Fig: Ömer Faruk Kaplan, SKINs, 2025, float glass, unique pieces
Ömer Faruk Kaplan
Ömer Faruk Kaplan was born in Munich in 1991 and lives and works in Munich and Vienna. He studied at the Academy of Fine Arts Munich from 2022 to 2025 (under Prof. Florian Pumhösl), graduating with distinction. He also studied at the Academy of Fine Arts Vienna from 2017 to 2023 (sculpture and graphic arts under Prof. Christian Schwarzwald and Prof. Judith Huemer), graduating with distinction.
Training as a wood sculptor with Herbert Nauderer and Michael von Brentano at the Schools for Wood and Design in Garmisch-Partenkirchen from 2014 to 2017.
Exhibitions (selection)
2026
Strata, Galerie Reinthaler, Vienna (solo)
2025
Debutant exhibition, Kunstverein München
Art Matters 13, Galerie Biesenbach, Cologne
salondergegenwart, Hamburg
Contact Zones, Artcare Showroom, Vienna
Half Dry, Half Memory, TROST Space, Graz
Echo, Ingolstadt Art Association
“Talents – Masters of the Future”, Chamber of Industry and Commerce, Munich
Diploma exhibition at the Academy of Fine Arts Munich (solo)
2024
Meristeme, Galerie Heike Strelow, Frankfurt am Main
Artist Statement (invitation) Parallel Vienna, Vienna (solo)
Art Auction 13, Galerie WESERHALLE, Berlin
Trying to find the one by seeking and hiding, Galerie B12, Bottrop
WAS, Gallery Reception Hall, Munich
DIAGONAL, Art Pavilion, Munich
2023
In the Salon, Galerie Elektrohalle Rhomberg, Salzburg
DOWN HERE, Kunstarkaden, Munich
PARALLEL VIENNA – Art Fair, Vienna
Annual exhibition at the Academy of Fine Arts Munich
PARCOURS, Diploma Exhibition at the Academy of Fine Arts Vienna (solo)
PARTICLES, Kunstarkaden, Munich
GLOW, Kösk, Munich
2022
TERRITORIES AND TRACES, achtzehnkommazwei, Munich (solo)
ROOMS AVAILABLE 2022, Hotel Mariandl, Munich
URBAN Collection, Summer Exhibition
Eduard Urban, Waidhofen / Ybbs
IN:CONSISTANCY, KAH in Vienna
SIGNIFICANT OTHERS, Open House at the Academy of Fine Arts Vienna
2021
EXIT VIENNA – by Erno Vroonen, BELLEPARAIS and achtzehnkommazwei, Munich
ART AUSTRIA, Art Fair, Vienna
PARALLEL VIENNA – Art Fair, Vienna
Contemporary Art – Municipal Gallery Rosenheim
IN FLUX – Kösk, Munich
Prizes | Scholarships | Collections etc.
2025
LfA Förderbank Bayern, Munich, promotes young talent/cultural development
Prize/Debutante Grant from the Bavarian State Ministry for Science and Art
2024
UP&COMING Watchlist of upcoming and young artists by PARNASS Magazine
2023
Funding and calendar selection from LfA Förderbank Bayern, Munich
World of Art A(u)ktion, Munich
Academy Auction 2023, Munich
2022
Included in the URBAN COLLECTION, Vienna / Waidhofen an der Ybbs
2021
Stage design/installation at the University of Music and Performing Arts, Vienna
2019
Artist in Residence “Almresidency” Ochsenhütte near Marienstein, Bavaria
2016
Realization of the sculpture “Origin”, Aspen-Colorado site, Garmisch-Partenkirchen
Details about the exhibition
“STRATA”
Opening: Thursday, January 22, 2026, 6:00 PM – 8:00 PM, In the presence of the artist. Duration: January 23 – March 13, 2026. Open: Tue – Fri 1:00 PM – 6:00 PM, Sat 11:00 AM – 3:00 PM and by appointment.
Owner and Managing Director of Kunstplaza . Publicist, editor, and passionate blogger in the fields of art, design, and creativity since 2011. Graduated with a degree in web design from university (2008). Further developed creative techniques through courses in freehand drawing, expressive painting, and theatre/acting. Profound knowledge of the art market gained through years of journalistic research and numerous collaborations with key players and institutions in the arts and culture sector.
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J-Line Relaxing Armchair / Butterfly Chair in leather/metal, color: Cognac
315,00 €
