Perception’s analysis and images’ manipulation are at the core of Johannes Kahrs’ reflection. The subjects of the German author’s artworks present themselves in all their human indecipherability, shaken by pressures and malaise: the monstrous yet familiar realism of Kahrs’ paintings provokes entangled empathy and reveals the hidden and violent side of humanity. Starting from images collected from magazines, the internet, newspapers, advertisements, amateur and feature films, but also from photographs taken by himself, Johannes Kahrs releases the image from its original context, depicting fragmented and isolated scenes and escaping a coherent narrative. By cutting the image, enlarging its details and disconnecting it from its original embedded context, the artist emphasizes the symbolic meaning of the scene to reveal its deeper and mysterious contents.