Leo Gallery is pleased to present Under the Sun, Beneath the Rain, a solo exhibition by German artist Max Huckle. The exhibition features paintings that refine a minimal visual language into a highly attentive practice: thin strata of color, measured intervals, and incisive linear gestures. What appears restrained is in fact exacting—each mark calibrated for how it shifts balance, tempo, and attention across the surface.
"Sun" and "rain" function as working terms, pointing to changing conditions of making—dryness and glare versus saturation and drag. Earlier layers remain active as pressure, gloss, and residue, shaping how the surface is read even when traces nearly disappear. Rather than aiming for a conclusive image, the works sustain a state of provisional resolution: held, tested, and slightly unsettled.
Huckle's approach also aligns with the logic of Guy Debord's dérive—a practice of drifting through an environment with heightened receptivity, guided by atmospheres, thresholds, and chance encounters rather than fixed destination. In painting, this belief becomes method: decisions are made in motion, responsive to what the work "offers" in the moment. The canvas operates like a terrain to be traversed—where direction can change, where detours matter, and where orientation emerges from the act itself.
Material decisions are integral. Huckle works exclusively with self-made pigment sticks, producing a palette in which every color is unique. These hues reflect his time in China not as representation, but as tonal experience—an environmental register translated into color and touch. Under the Sun, Beneath the Rain invites close looking: not for message, but for how a painting thinks—through drift, restraint, and the weight of the smallest shift.
About the Artist
Max Huckle born in 1987 in Heidelberg, Germany, is a contemporary artist known for his dynamic, exploratory paintings. His artistic path took him from the Gerrit Rietveld Academy in Amsterdam to the Folkwangen University of Art in Essen, where he studied photography. He later honed his painting skills at the State Academy of Fine Arts Karlsruhe, guided by Silvia Bächli, and earned the prestigious title of Meisterschüler.
Huckle’s creative process resembles a continuous spiral, perpetually moving forward and renewing itself. His work explores linear form and uses materials intuitively, balancing intention with spontaneity. Each piece becomes an evolving dialogue between consciousness, gesture, and material. His art explores the intersections of time, form, and human experience, addressing themes of identity, societal tension, and transformation. Influenced by the challenges of daily life, landscapes, and abstract expressionism, Huckle’s work encourages deeper engagement.
Max Huckle has showcased his art in numerous notable solo exhibitions: "Flux Line" at Temple House, Chengdu (2025); "Drifting" at Galerie Tobias Naehring, Berlin (2022); "CC – My Copy Still Differs From Yours" at Galerie Tobias Naehring, Leipzig (2021); "PFAD(Daò)" at Leo Gallery, Hong Kong (2020); "[Tell Me] Something About Tomorrow" at Leo Gallery, Shanghai (2020); "To Finish First, You Have to Finish First" at FILIALE, Frankfurt (2018); "Waiting for the Bus to Miss It" at Leo Gallery, Hong Kong (2018). Recently, he received the Post-Graduation Grant for Exceptional Talent from Baden-Württemberg, Germany.
