Opera Gallery New York is set to host Hybrid Souls, a captivating solo exhibition by Swiss artist Andy Denzler, from March 20 to April 12, 2025. This highly anticipated showcase features twenty new paintings created in Denzler’s Zurich studio between 2024 and 2025, offering a profound meditation on the human condition in an era increasingly defined by technology.
Andy Denzler, Hybrid Souls I, 2024, oil on canvas, 82.7 in x 70.9 in | 210 x 180 cm
Denzler’s work is a masterful blend of traditional techniques and contemporary themes. Drawing from his own photography, found imagery, and AI-generated prompts, he constructs layered compositions that challenge our perceptions of reality. His signature use of heavy impasto oils, rendered in a warm, earthy palette of Naples yellow, ochres, and burnt umbers, evokes the nostalgic feel of aged Polaroids or sun-bleached photographs. By scraping and distorting the canvas with a spatula, Denzler creates textures that oscillate between smooth and rough, sharp and fragmented, lending his works a cinematic quality reminiscent of paused or fast-forwarded video frames.
The exhibition is divided into two compelling series: Distorted and Collision. The Distorted series focuses on individuals in private, contemplative moments, portraying them in calm, domestic settings that starkly contrast with the frenetic pace of the digital world. These intimate portraits, bathed in Denzler’s warm color palette, feel suspended in time, offering a quiet refuge from the chaos of modern life.
In contrast, the Collision series captures the chaotic energy of public spaces, inspired by British expressionists like Lucian Freud and Francis Bacon. Here, Denzler’s dynamic brushwork and neo-expressionist techniques depict young figures in ambiguous, dreamlike environments. These subjects appear to dance, run, scream, or freeze in motion, yet they remain isolated and disconnected from one another—their closed eyes suggesting a deep immersion in their own digital reverie. As Denzler describes, they are caught “in the act of becoming—part human, part digital echo.”
Through these dual series, Hybrid Souls explores the theme of duality—breaking apart and coming together, disintegration and reconstruction—making it a poignant reflection of contemporary society. Denzler’s work interrogates the evolving boundaries between humanity and technology, capturing the zeitgeist of an era that continuously redefines what it means to be human.
Andy Denzler, Study for Shattered Figures II, 2025, Oil on carboard, 40 x 55 cm
Andy Denzler, Woman in front of a Window, 2025, Oil on canvas, 80 x 70 cm.
About Andy Denzler
Andy Denzler (b. 1965, Zurich) is a Swiss artist known for his distinctive style that blends static and blurred bands of pigment. His works, which often center on the human figure, explore themes of perception and distortion. Denzler has exhibited globally, with pieces in major collections such as the Gwangju Museum of Art and the Museum of Modern Art in Moscow.
Hybrid Souls is not just an exhibition but a thought-provoking journey into the complexities of our digital age. Don’t miss the opportunity to experience Andy Denzler’s latest exploration of humanity’s evolving relationship with technology.
Hybrid Souls
Dates: March 20 – April 12, 2025
Location: Opera Gallery New York
（791 Madison Avenue New York, NY 10065）
Website: operagallery.com
Plan your visit to witness this compelling showcase that bridges the past, present, and future of human existence.
