Stephan Melzl
Superhero
02 Sep 2014 - 06 Jan 2015
Stephan Melzl was born in Basel in 1959. His paintings fuse virtuosity with emotionality and sensuality – qualities that at first glance seem anachronistic in the world of contemporary art. The artist has a distinctive way of investing historical pictorial traditions with a contemporary aesthetic, pairing metaphysical questions with social issues relevant in the 21st century.
While the small, vibrantly coloured panels initially strike an intimate tone, they also emanate a curious silence. The scenarios appear staged, a quality further emphasised by the artificial light in which they are cast. They can be interpreted as settings for dreams, as metaphors for elusive emotional states or – in their disconcerting combination of sobriety and humour – as anarchic corrections to an allegedly perfect world. The exhibition brings together around 40 works, created over the past 15 years, for the first time.
With support from PIN. Freunde der Pinakothek der Moderne e.V.
While the small, vibrantly coloured panels initially strike an intimate tone, they also emanate a curious silence. The scenarios appear staged, a quality further emphasised by the artificial light in which they are cast. They can be interpreted as settings for dreams, as metaphors for elusive emotional states or – in their disconcerting combination of sobriety and humour – as anarchic corrections to an allegedly perfect world. The exhibition brings together around 40 works, created over the past 15 years, for the first time.
With support from PIN. Freunde der Pinakothek der Moderne e.V.