KLASEN Peter

Peter Klasen (1935–)

Title: Nu Manette M1
Year: 2002
Medium: Color lithograph, signed and numbered in pencil
Edition: 11/150
Image size: 57 × 48 cm (22.5 × 19 in.)
Sheet size: 76.2 × 58.4 cm (30 × 23 in.)

Please note, this work will be exhibited in the exhibition "Juste une illusion" organized by Frédéric Mette at the Espace Art et Liberté from September 25 to November 5, 2025 (3 place des Marseillais - free entry). If you wish to purchase this work, it will be available after the exhibition (for collection or shipping).

Description and Critical Analysis

In Nu Manette M1, Peter Klasen continues his exploration of contemporary visual culture by juxtaposing fragments of the human body with mechanical signs and industrial elements. The lithograph brings together the raw image of a nude female torso with details of levers, dials, and torn typographic fragments, all organized in bold fields of color—red, yellow, blue, and grey—reminiscent of advertising and urban signage.

This direct contrast between intimate flesh and the cold rigidity of mechanical forms encapsulates one of Klasen’s central concerns: the tension between human desire and technological control, between sensuality and industrial standardization. The female body, fragmented and reduced to its physicality, is positioned at the center of a system of machines, almost manipulated by the surrounding environment.

The composition functions like a visual collage, where each element asserts its independence yet remains bound by an underlying force. The golden lever, depicted as if it were an on/off switch, becomes a symbol of power and domination, while the torn typography introduces a disruptive note that critiques the commodification of bodies in consumer society.

Nu Manette M1 thus demonstrates Klasen’s subversive power: an enticing pop aesthetic that simultaneously delivers a sharp commentary on the visual and symbolic violence of modernity.

Biographical Note

Peter Klasen, born in Lübeck, Germany, in 1935, is a major figure of narrative and critical painting of the 1960s. Trained at the Berlin School of Fine Arts, he moved to Paris in 1959, where he joined the avant-garde scene and aligned himself with the Figuration Narrative movement, which sought to counter the dominance of abstraction.

Klasen’s visual universe draws on industrial imagery, advertising, signage codes, and consumer culture. He developed a distinctive language where the human body, often fragmented, is juxtaposed with technical objects, meters, metallic surfaces, and graphic devices. This approach critiques consumerism and its excesses, particularly the commodification of the female body and the dehumanizing impact of technological environments.

His works have been widely exhibited across Europe and internationally, and they are held in numerous public and private collections. Throughout his career, Klasen has remained committed to a critical, politically aware art practice, situating himself as one of the most incisive painters of his generation, constantly interrogating the fraught relationship between humanity and the technological-industrial world.