Galerie Praz-Delavallade
28, rue Louise Weiss
10 rue du Chefdelaville
Paris
75013
France
Europe
p: 33 145862000
m:
f: 33 145862010
w: www.praz-delavallade.com
ERIK SCHMIDT Ausrichtungsfehler, 2009 Oil on canvas, 130 x 90 cm
PARIS SPACE I: ERIK SCHMIDT 09.01.2010 - 13.02.2010
PARIS SPACE II: GROUPSHOW VALENTIN CARRON, PHILIPPE DECRAUZAT, THOMAS FOUGEIROL, JULIAN HOEBER 09.01.2010 - 13.02.2010
English below
ERIK SCHMIDT Perusing The Scenery 09.01.2010 - 13.02.2010
�Perusing the Scenery� est la seconde exposition d�Erik Schmidt � la galerie Praz-Delavallade apr�s �Nach der Jagd ist vor der Jagd� en 2006. Ses nouvelles oeuvres sont le reflet de ses observations en Terre Sainte, glan�es au cours de diff�rents voyages au travers des collines de Jud�e, des hauteurs du Golan et de la Mer Morte.
Sa d�cision parfaitement d�lib�r�e d�appr�hender son sujet � la mani�re id�aliste et romantique d�un touriste du XIX�me si�cle voyageant arm� de son guide Baedeker et de son casque colonial peut appara�tre na�ve si on consid�re le paradoxe entre la beaut� du paysage et la tension inh�rente � son contexte, encore que Schmidt lui-m�me de fa�on tr�s consciente joue de cet afflux d��nergies positives et n�gatives en l�int�grant dans les oeuvres pr�sent�es.
Dans ses peintures, les sc�nes bucoliques, presque scientifiques dans leur dissection g�ographique, sont juxtaposes aux blocs g�om�triques de b�ton, inclusions urbaines dans le paysage, et semblent se dissoudre dans la brume de chaleur qui les surplombe. La technique picturale qui caract�rise la peinture d�Erik Schmidt faite de couches �paisses se superposant les unes aux autres sublime la banalit� du quotidien.
Comme pour introduire la spontan�it� du voyageur dans l�exposition, un projecteur de diapositives �graine des images de rivages de la mer morte - sans liens, banales mais incisives, d�coupant la monotonie irr�elle des eaux fuyantes et la terre dess�ch�e. Parmi les baigneurs et les tas de sels, l�artiste se met en sc�ne � distance, se d�barrassant des traces de la poussi�re et du sel.
Son traitement impressionniste des vues de Jaffa nous ram�ne � l��poque insouciante des affiches de voyage �Visitez la Palestine�, mais il s�approprie l�image archa�que en la recouvrant de son propre geste artistique et en modifie la perception. A travers son �vocation de notre d�sir tellurien et notre croyance en la possibilit� de voir au del� des apparences, il nous force � r�examiner inlassablement notre point de vue et � nous concentrer sur une perception purement mentale.
Geoffrey Whittaker
Plusieurs expositions personnelles ont �t� consacr�es au travail d�Eric Schmidt : Elizabeth Dee, New York ; Carlier I gebauer, Berlin; Soledad Lorenzo, Madrid; le mus�e MARTa Herford, Allemagne. Ses oeuvres ont aussi �t� pr�sent�es lors de nombreuses expositions de groupe : Museo Reina Sofia, Madrid; Kunstmuseum, Bonn; ICA, Londres; Hamburger Banhof, Berlin; Artists Space, New York; Barbara Gladstone, New York. Sa premi�re monogaphie � Hunting Grounds�, 2007 a �t� publi� aux �ditions Hatje Cantz.
ENGLISH
ERIK SCHMIDT Perusing The Scenery 09.01.2010 - 13.02.2010
Perusing the Scenery is Erik Schmidt�s second exhibition at Praz-Delavallade after �Nach der Jagd ist vor der Jagd� in 2006. His new works reflect Schmidt�s observations of the Holy Land, stemming from several journeys to the hills of Judaea, the Golan Heights and the Dead Sea. His conscious and deliberate decision to approach his material with the romantic idealism of a nineteenth century tourist armed with Baedeker and pith helmet might seem naive considering the paradox between the beauty of the scenery and the tension immanent in the images as a result of their context, yet Schmidt himself provokes by admitting this buildup of energy, with both creative and destructive aspects, into the works on show.
In the oil paintings, bucolic scenes, almost scientific in their dissection of the geography, are juxtaposed with the geometric forms of concrete, urban inclusions in the landscape, which, in turn, seem to melt into the heat-haze hanging over them. Schmidt�s trademark application of paint, deep like bunches of grapes or discarded fruit peel, elevates the everyday into the spectacular, an olive tree glows in the sun, splendid like gold, alongside pastel tones that would be twee but for the muscular interference of that burning, aggressive orange.
As if to drive home the spontaneous aesthetic of the casual traveller, one corner of the show is devoted to a slide show of scenes from the Dead Sea�s shores - disjointed pictures flick past, banal yet incisive, slicing up the unreal monotony of the receding waters and parched earth into segments: holidaymakers bathing in the brine, mounds of salt, and the artist himself, distanced in his mise-en-scene, showering nonchalantly, freeing himself of the dust, grime and sweat.
Schmidt�s jaffa impressionism harks back to the innocent era of �Visit Palestine� posters, coupled with an almost imperial drive to subvert the seen into the seeming by applying his own thick layer of artistry to the simple, archaic imagery; a troubling evocation of the earthly desire for the land and our belief in a unique ability to see beyond the surface, forcing us to re-examine our standpoint tirelessly and lock into the simplicity of the vista constructed by the mind�s eye.
Geoffrey Whittaker
Erik Schmidt had solo exhibitions with Elisabeth Dee in New York, carlier | gebauer in Berlin and at the Museum MARTa Herford, Germany. His work has been featured in group exhibitions at Museo Reina Sofia, Madrid; Kunstmuseum, Bonn; ICA, London; Hamburger Bahnhof, Berlin; Artists Space, New York; and Barbara Gladstone, New York. In 2007, Hatje Cantz published the first monograph on the artist�s work titled Hunting Grounds.
