10 Grotesque Yet Seductive Visuals Painted By Christian Rex van Minnen

The “Metanoia” series by American contemporary artist Christian Rex van Minnen continues in the trajectory of his unmistakable visual language. Renowned for his distinctive, surrealist-inflected style, van Minnen has just opened his second solo exhibition in Japan. Hosted at NANZUKA UNDERGROUND from 17 January to 21 February, “Metanoia” presents 15 works, including lush floral compositions, uncanny portraits of figurines with grape-like faces and gummy forms representing American culture.

#1 Still Life with Extispicy and Slobulus (2025) Oil on Linen

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#2 Still Life with Grapes Melon and Apples (2025) Oil on Linen

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According to a statement regarding the project, van Minnen seeks to give visual form to inner transformation in this new body of work. “Together, these works constitute an artistic inquiry that seeks to illuminate an aesthetic that Christian Rex van Minnen has developed over many years through persistent experimentation—one that transcends the boundaries between grotesqueness and beauty, and between corporeality and the sublime”.

“Interwoven with the eidolons of contemporary American culture symbolized by gummy forms, these works may ultimately allude to the chaotic predicament we find ourselves in today—a call to metanoia, to rethink everything, whether to retreat back to the comfort and security of tradition, or to press on with blind faith in the wild promise of novelty.”

#3 Still Life with Octopus in Vase and Upside Down Figure (2025) Oil on Linen

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#4 Still Life with Snake in Vase and Upside Down Figure (2025) Oil on Linen

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#5 Portrait with Red Alarmed Faced (2025) Oil on Linen

 

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Reflecting on the personal and cultural context behind his latest series, van Minnen continues, “Metanoia means change of mind or heart, or repentance. I began my art career as a vandal, as a destroyer, making ugly the beautiful things of the past. I have been a vandal in the temple. Growing up in the 80s and 90s, my culture was and is one of depravity, debasement, and destruction, and I have for many years seen myself in that same light. This is a cultural thing and true of many of my peers. Whether this is learned or actual, this has been the defining quality of the culture I am in, and my work has reflected this attitude.”

He adds, “I have recently had a change of heart, and I am being regenerated. Where once I only saw the formal qualities of the pictures of the past, now I am beginning to see the subject, the content, the great mysterious ecstasy of these works. This has come with a call to metanoia—to repent, to rethink.”

“I have started to paint still lifes straightforwardly and sincerely, collecting objects from my local market or environment, photographing them, and then painting them. I seek only to glorify nature and creation—not to destroy the genre, but to contribute to it—while simultaneously advancing my surreal works that emulate and ‘vandalise’ this traditional style, attempting to convey the intense emotions I feel in this process of spiritual regeneration. For now, I am allowing these two approaches to coexist.

#6 Portrait with Tiger Face Tattoo (2025) Oil on Linen

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#7 Still Life with Grapes Brass Pot Abalone Nectarines and Yellow Peaches (2025) Oil on Linen

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#8 Still Life with Two Abalone (2025) Oil on  Panel

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#9 Still Life with Apple (2025) Oil on Panel

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#10 Still Life with Snakes in Vase and Blue Bomber (2025) Oil on Linen

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