ART CITIES:London-Julian Schnabel
The 1960s and 1970s witnessed what has been termed the “dematerialization” of the art object. By contrast, the 1980s were characterized by a return to the traditions of painting and sculpture. Amid this celebration of conservative values, Julian Schnabel played a critical role in the emergence of Neo-Expressionist painting in the U.S.A. After two decades dominated by the aesthetics of Minimalist and Conceptual art, Schnabel’s heroic scale, gestural brushstrokes, and figurative subject matter marked a radical shift in painting.
By Dimitris Lempesis
Photo: Pace Gallery Archive
Julian Schnabel’s solo exhibition “The re-use of 2017 by 2018. The re-use of Christmas, birthdays. The re-use of a joke. The re-use of air and water.” at Pace Gallery in London, includes twelve new paintings that originate from 18th Century calendar prints discovered by the artist in a second-hand store in New York. The calendar prints were published by John & Josiah Boydell and made by Royal Academy artists William Hamilton (1751–1801) and Francesco Bartolozzi (1727–1815), whose names appear at the bottom of each image, the original images feature agricultural scenes that depict the seasonal activities of rural England for each month. After enlarging these scenes onto polyester, he painted on them, establishing a new view – new picture without losing the first, suggesting the multiplicity of vision, of awareness, of every moment. He opens a conflict that plays out in front of the viewer. “The prints are reinterpreted just as all yesterdays and todays are”, Schnabel stated. Schnabel came to prominence with his signature plate paintings. The surface of these works are strewn with shards of broken crockery and covered with thick layers of pigment. The series, notable for its large scale, flamboyant texture, and distorted subjects, was conceived in the 1970s. Transforming the traditional surface of the mosaic, the broken plates and cups project from the canvas like jagged, sculptural brushstrokes. In 1987 Schnabel began making paintings in which written words and proper names serve as subject matter. The early works in this series marked a change in imagery from one of excess to one of deliberate austerity and from pictorial narrative to oblique, linguistic reference. In this series, Fakires signals a return to a richer palette and a more layered and expressionistic surface than in his earlier word paintings. In addition to painting, Schnabel’s prolific creativity extended to music, photography, and film. He released an album in 1995 called “Every Silver Lining has a Cloud”. In 2002 Schnabel worked on the photography and art direction for the Red Hot Chili Peppers’ album “By the Way”. He co-wrote and directed the film “Basquiat” (1996) about the life and tragic death of Jean-Michel Basquiat. Schnabel has had considerable success with his directing career, making notable films such as “Before Night Falls” (2000), “The Diving Bell and the Butterfly” (2007), “Lou Reed’s Berlin” (2007), and “Miral” (2010).
Info: Pace Gallery, 6 Burlington Gardens, London, Duration: 17/7-22/6/18, Days & Hours: Tue-Sat 10:00-18:00, www.pacegallery.com
