As a child of ‘Generation X’, Thomas Berghaus benefited greatly from the new economy boom of the 90s. From the mid-90s onwards, he created multimedia presentations for the who’s who of the German economy.

Since then, the term ‘multimedia’ also describes Berghaus’ artistic work quite well: as a musician, he plays several instruments at once. ‘I play umpteen instruments in my productions – but none of them really well,’ he says of himself. The same applies to his visual art. ‘I can do almost everything – but nothing really,’ Berghaus continues. He doesn’t like to commit himself. Whether photography, printmaking or painting. Berghaus likes to try things out. It’s not the medium that counts, but the content. It always starts with an idea, a thought – the craftsmanship then usually comes naturally.

His photographs often have a painterly effect – this is where his experience as a graphic designer comes in handy: he abstracts his motifs by choosing specific sections, as he learnt to do when designing advertising material. Berghaus seeks the graphic, the sorted, the inner order in forms and colours. He shows sections of the real world as if it too – the real world – were ultimately only the product of a computer graphics programme. Typography often plays a major role in his prints – here you realise that Berghaus worked as a typesetter for decades. He also tries his hand at lyricism and stages his own texts as well as quotes from others as visual messages.

In terms of content, Berghaus spans an arc from Ethiopia to Biesfeld – a village in the Bergisches Land region – where he grew up. The themes of his art range from the big questions of human existence to trivial gimmicks with aesthetics and beauty.