Art Knowledge News
Hauser & Wirth announces the First UK Exhibition of the Berlin-based Artist Martin Eder |
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| Written by rubin |
| Wednesday, 01 July 2009 03:31 |
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 The Old Bond Street gallery will host a suite of new
paintings that although conceived as individual works, relate to and
cross-reference one another, collectively revealing the parallel world that they
describe. The viewer beholds three protagonists, each under the sinister
protectorate of a 'guardian'; their common situations suggest collusion, perhaps
even telepathic communication between the characters. Rendered in muted tones,
the canvases convey an ominous feeling and encroaching danger. Eder paints the
twin emotions of fear and desire that reach out to the viewer. The loaded
sexuality of the girls in his paintings and the feeling of exploitation these
inspire, come coupled with the painterly dexterity of their making. Eder’s
surfaces are complicated and compelling. Different modes of expression are
assembled, ranging from realistic descriptive passages to marbled backdrops and
high-toned graphic flourishes, all the while toying with depth and flatness.
Eder paints from photographs that he has taken, which together with his deployment of technique and illusory devices positions his persona at the centre of the narratives. Brought up in Catholic Bavaria, he has spoken of a 'fundamentalist form of dedication' that drives the dark symbolism and fervor of his works. His women are painted in styles that variously recall Botticelli, Cranach, Renoir and Manet, yet his subjects are undressed rather than nude. Their hairstyles, preened and made-up faces and soft-core poses parade a very contemporary attitude; their hallucinatory and claustrophobic predicaments are akin to those of the films of David Lynch. Eder’s works comment on the current health of society and of art, their fetishistic imaginary worlds reflecting the writings of Marx and Freud on the painted canvas. 'I’m deliberately exposing myself to criticism that it is exploitation,' the artist explains. 'But on the other hand, isn’t arousal, if it’s present at all, a rebellion against death?' Martin Eder was born in 1968 in Augsburg, Germany, and lives and works in Berlin. Recent solo exhibitions include 'Der dunkle Grund', at Staatliche Kunstsammlungen Dresden, Galerie Neue Meister, Dresden (2009); Mönchehaus Museum für Moderne Kunst, Goslar (2008); 'Fotografie: Die Armen' at Kunsthalle Mannheim, Mannheim, and Gemeentemuseum, The Haag (both 2008); and Galerie Eigen + Art, Leipzig (2007). He is represented by Eigen + Art. Visit Hauser & Wirth at : http://www.hauserwirth.com/ Click on logo below to add this article to your favorite Social Website ~ |
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