Oliver Plehn - Caballero con yoyo XL

The painting Knight with a yoyo was created with charcoal and gouache on a canvas measuring 100cm x 81cm in the year 2026. Signed by a black label marker bottom right. Comes with certificate of authenticity, pristine condition. The work is shipped rolled inside a tube.

In Knight with a yoyo, Oliver Plehn transforms the figure of the classic warrior into a contemporary symbol of human contradiction: the golden and robust armor protects a vulnerable, almost organic body, while an innocent yoyo hangs as a reminder of the childlike fragility that persists beneath the armor. The vibrant palette — warm ochres against deep blues — and the expressive texture of gouache and charcoal create a magnetic presence, oscillating between strength and delicacy, between the heroic and the intimate.
This piece is part of the powerful series “Mirrors of the Self: Portraits of Fragility and Strength,” praised by curator Antonio Sánchez (1819 Art Gallery) as “a testament to the power of art to move, connect and question.” Plehn, influenced by German Expressionists and with an international career including exhibitions at Yale School of Art, Madrid-Barajas Airport, Friedenskirche, and presence on Artsy, Saatchi Art and 1819 Art Gallery, captures in every stroke that “presence that speaks of what remains unsaid.”
A work from 2026, recent and laden with current symbolism, ideal for collectors seeking figurative pieces with psychological depth, unexpected narratives and direct emotional dialogue. It is not just an acquisition: it is a mirror where we confront our own duality.
Unique piece with great visual impact, directly from the creator!

MIRRORS OF THE SELF: PORTRAITS OF FRAGILITY AND STRENGTH
By Antonio Sánchez. Director and curator of 1819 Art Gallery
The collection we deal with is an emotive compendium of works exploring the depth of the human condition through portraits and figures filled with symbolism. These pieces weave together a visual narrative that unfolds a palette of subtle and often somber colors, evoking introspective and contemplative moods. Technical prowess reveals not only mastery of the medium but also an intense emotional connection between the artist and the subjects, each bearing a silent but palpable story.
The textures and techniques vary from softly diffused to aggressively marked, reflecting the diversity of human emotions and the complexity of our experiences. The strokes, whether firm or tremulous, together with the play of light and shadow, build an atmosphere that transcends the visual to touch the viewer’s soul.
The work oscillates between literal representation and abstraction, allowing the viewer’s mind to fill the gaps, inviting deeper engagement. The deliberate use of discordant or unexpected elements, such as a knife cutting through a figure’s face, challenges our perceptions and provokes introspection about what it means to be human in times of emotional and social tumult.
The collection as a whole serves as a mirror of the fragility and strength inherent in the human spirit. Each piece, while unique in its expression, contributes to a broader dialogue about resilience and vulnerability. The choice of subjects, from human figures to depictions of animals, each imbued with deep emotivity, amplifies this dialogue, suggesting universality in our emotional experiences.
This set of works, beyond being merely a display of technical skill, is a testament to the power of art to move, connect and question. The collection not only captures the aesthetic beauty of its subjects but also acts as a catalyst for personal and collective exploration of deep and often contradictory emotions. In doing so, these works invite spectators to confront the unknown within themselves and in the world around them, offering a space for recognition and catharsis.

Artist Biography – Oliver Plehn
The work of the German painter and draftsman Oliver Plehn is characterized by expressive representations of the human and animal body. Faces and bodies form the center of his artistic universe: powerful, sensitive and rich in psychological depth. From childhood, the images of German Expressionists influenced him, whose emotional immediacy and formal freedom remain a reference in his artistic language to this day.
From a young age, Plehn decided to be an artist and to maintain his creative independence. In addition to studying painting and drawing in art schools, he studied natural sciences, which allowed him professional independence and artistic freedom. At the beginning of the 1990s, a grant in the field of quantum mechanics brought him to Madrid.
Oliver Plehn lives with his wife and two daughters in the Madrid district of Carabanchel Alto.

Artistic Statement
My work arises from the impulse to understand human existence in its deepest and most contradictory interior. Throughout my career, I have explored portraiture as a means to reveal not only what is visible, but also what is hidden: repressed emotions, scars of the soul, gestures of silent resistance. I paint from fragility, from that liminal space where pain and beauty coexist without permission.
I am not interested in capturing perfect faces, but presence, that which speaks of what remains unsaid. I am drawn to silences, looks that carry stories, bodies that vibrate with lived experience. Each work is for me an attempt at dialogue with the unknown, that interior territory we often try to escape.
My goal as an artist is to create images that are not only observed but questioned by the viewer. I want them to act as mirrors in which one can find something of oneself, even in restlessness or discomfort. I work figuratively, yes, but I seek in it an openness to mystery, to doubt, to the emotion that cannot be put into words.
I feel that art has the power to heal, to reveal, and to accompany. In this sense, my practice is also a form of care: for myself, and for all those who approach these images with an open heart.
Exhibitions
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Online presence on Artsy
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Online presence on Flecha.es
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Online presence on 1819 Art Gallery
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“Aqua versus Terra”, September 1–30, 2025, Madrid
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“Madrid Hidden”, June 1 to July 15, 2025, Madrid
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“The Gods of Muay Thai and a Strange One”, December 1, 2022 – January 6, 2023, Madrid
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Exhibition at Yale School of Art, March 2021
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Solo exhibition at Madrid-Barajas International Airport "Faces of the World", December 30, 2019 – February 7, 2020
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Solo exhibition "The Passion of the Christ" at Friedenskirche, Calle Serrano 6, Madrid
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Exhibition at United Artist Fair 2019 at Casa de Cantabria, Madrid, February 2019
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Painting exhibition on Calle Serrano, Madrid, December 2018 – February 2019
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Solo painting exhibition in Madrid, Spain, November 2018
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Painting exhibition in Madrid, Spain, Calle Serrano, November 2016 – January 2017