Max Jahn

Gratin is pleased to present Time Spent Looking, Max Jahn's first solo exhibition in New York. Jahn’s paintings depict people from his close circle, shaped by familiarity, time, and repeated encounters. Knowing his subjects—spending time with them—is integral to the work itself, with each painting formed through prolonged observation, a product of “time spent looking.” His use of copper as a medium reinforces the historical weight of portraiture, giving the works a dense, concentrated surface that also carries traces of earlier contexts and histories. Jahn chooses each frame from his father's antique shop, treating them as an active element of the work, evoking domestic spaces, personal histories, and a tangible relationship to the past, the “still-life”.

Max Jahn (b. 1998, Berlin) is a self-taught painter working primarily on a small scale, creating portraits and still lifes marked by a quiet, concentrated intensity. Growing up in Berlin and spending time in his father’s antique store shaped his sensitivity to objects, materials, and the presence they hold. He paints directly from life, allowing close observation to determine the rhythm and structure of each work. They have the sincerity of a love song and the spirit of punk.