Words swallowed, words erased, words reimagined. Monty Richthofen returns with a new body of work that challenges the very nature of language, abstraction, and meaning.
Berlin-based artist Monty Richthofen’s latest solo exhibition, Swallowed Bullets, opened on February 7, 2025, and runs until March 22, at Dittrich & Schlechtriem.
The exhibition features a series of large-scale text-based paintings alongside an intimate selection of works on paper. It takes visitors on a rhythmic visual journey, where language is no longer just a tool for communication but a volatile, elusive force—blurred, crossed out, obscured, or violently confronted.
At the core of Swallowed Bullets lies a poetic exploration of power and complicity. Each piece plays with legibility, making the viewer an active participant in deciphering fragmented messages that oscillate between revelation and concealment. The recurring act of erasure—whether through spray paint, distortion, or deliberate obfuscation—mirrors the way truths are manipulated, swallowed, and regurgitated in contemporary discourse.
Poetry in Chaos: The Art of Monty Richthofen
Richthofen’s practice defies easy categorization. A poet, a painter, a performer—his work spans disciplines but remains rooted in text as a medium of disruption.
His background in performance practice and design at Central Saint Martins in London laid the foundation for his unconventional approach, where the written word transforms into visual and physical experience. Whether through graffiti-inspired strokes, layers of acrylic, or even tattooing, his pieces exist in a space between permanence and disappearance.
His recent exhibitions, including ECCENTRIC: Aesthetics of Freedom at the Pinakothek der Moderne in Munich and THANK GOD GOD IS DEAD at NAK Neuer Aachener Kunstverein, have cemented his reputation as an artist unafraid to push boundaries. Swallowed Bullets continues this trajectory, inviting viewers to question not just what is being said but what is being left unsaid.
Beyond the Canvas: A Conversation with Monty Richthofen
Ahead of the exhibition, we spoke with Richthofen about his creative process, the role of language in his work, and what it means to ‘swallow bullets’ in today’s world.
Your new show at Dittrich & Schlechtriem is called Swallowed Bullets. What’s the story behind the title?
Monty Richthofen: Swallowed Bullets is the title of a text piece I wrote. It exists both as a visual and auditory experience—through the paintings and the performance with John Carlsson. The phrase itself plays with the idea of confronting truth. To bite or to swallow the bullet, so to speak. What do we accept? What do we reject? And what are we complicit in?
Your work blends poetry, painting, and performance. What is it about language that makes it such a powerful medium for you?
Monty Richthofen: Language is inherently ambiguous. It can be manipulated, misread, reinterpreted. I love that. It creates space for both understanding and misunderstanding, for multiple truths to exist at once. My work embraces that tension.
Your style often recalls street art. Do you see yourself as a street artist?
Monty Richthofen: I resist labels. Just because I use spray paint doesn’t make me a street artist, and just because I tattoo words doesn’t make me a tattoo artist. I use whatever medium best serves my message. That’s it.
Your statements are often provocative, ironic, sometimes darkly humorous. Are they purely personal, or do you draw from external sources?
Monty Richthofen: They come from my own observations—things I’ve lived, imagined, or reacted to. I write what I feel, what I notice. Sometimes they hit, sometimes they miss. But they are always mine, even if they play with borrowed phrases or collective sentiments.
With Swallowed Bullets, Monty Richthofen delivers an exhibition that demands engagement. It’s not about passive viewing—it’s about interpretation, confrontation, and participation.
In a world oversaturated with language, Richthofen’s exhibition invites us to consider what happens when words become unstable, when truth becomes fluid, when meaning itself is swallowed whole.
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