Fragile Bloom
We are delighted to announce Fragile Bloom, an exhibition by celebrated artist Olaf Hajek. As one of Germany’s most renowned illustrators, Hajek has developed a highly distinctive and frequently awarded visual language.
Fragile Bloom marks Hajek’s first solo exhibition in Australia, on view 3 February – 9 March.
Fragile Bloom brings together works from different periods, forming a multi-layered visual landscape in which human figures, nature and memory intertwine. Faces dissolve into floral structures, bodies move in rhythm with organic patterns, and identities appear fluid rather than fixed.
The paintings explore moments of connection — between human and environment, strength and vulnerability, presence and disappearance. Dance and movement become metaphors for transformation, while ornamental details and natural forms suggest both protection and permeability. Figures seem to emerge from blossoms, clouds or night skies, only to fade again, suspended between becoming and dissolving.
Bloom, as a state rather than a fixed form, runs quietly through the exhibition: a moment of opening that holds both vitality and fragility. Fragile Bloom speaks of hope without certainty, of resilience without hardness — an invitation to encounter tenderness as a form of strength, and vulnerability as a space of deep connection.
– Olaf Hajek
Please join us on Thursday 5 February from 6–8 PM to celebrate the exhibition and experience this remarkable work in person.
909 A High Street, Armadale VIC, 3143
+61 408 298 796
olaf hajek
Olaf Hajek is one of Germany’s most renowned illustrators and has, through countless works, developed his personal and frequently awarded style. Hajek decomposes the borders between authenticity and thought, South American folklore, mythology, religion, history, and geography. More than anything else, his work explores the opposition between imagination and reality in the context of Western cultures. Olaf Hajek is a painter immersed in a world of surreal fantasy and melancholic beauty. Drawing from diverse references such as 1960s African studio photography, Renaissance perspective, and the Dutch still lifes of the 1600s, his work is underpinned by the colour and texture of folkloric imagery.
Hajek’s images are generally created by applying acrylic to cardboard and resemble Cuban advertising posters from the 1960s on account of the technique with which he creates artificial patina. They retain a valuable graphic feel despite their painted appearance. Olaf Hajek is currently one of the most internationally renowned and sought-after illustrators and visual artists. His stylistically unique work can be seen in publications including The New York Times, The Guardian, and Vogue, as well as on stamps for Great Britain’s Royal Mail.
