ERIC FISCHL IN CAC MALAGA
From the 29th of January till 4th of April 2010, Cac Malaga is presenting the first ever solo exhibition in a Spanish museum by Eric Fischl who, along with Alex Katz, is one of the most eminent American figurative painters of the second half of the 20th century. On show there will be large-format paintings and watercolours forming part of this New York artist’s first art of bullfighting, created after he attended Ronda’s Goyesque bullfight in 2007.
“Corrida in Ronda”, the title of the exhibition curated by Fernando Francés, summarises the rich language of the artist’s painting. There are two things about his works that are particularly outstanding and unique in contemporary painting: the use of backlighting to depict the toreadors’ passes and the way he imbues them with an emotive charge.
Corrida in Ronda is surprising because of the expressive power the New York artist has given to the art of bullfighting; on these huge canvases there is nothing but the impressiveness of the bullfight, strong bulls and admirable toreadors. Here we are not looking at an artist of enamelled, uniform surfaces, but rather at a devotee of chiaroscuro. Consequently, light is one of the most significant aspects of his style, and in his works he uses strong contrasts of light that create a sensation of depth. There are some figures that demand a little effort to extract them from the semi-darkness, while others are almost painful to look at because of their overexposure to the sun, a technique that he uses to produce the highest degree of expressiveness in his characters.
Eric Fischl Biography:
Born in New York City in 1948, Eric Fischl grew up in the suburbs of Long Island , his parents having moved there shortly before his second year."Safer place to raise a family", they used to say. Against a backdrop of alcoholism and a country club culture obsessed with image over content, Fischl became focussed on the rift between what was experienced and what could not be said. Until the late 70's, suburbia was not considered a legitimate genre for art. With his first New York show at the Edward Thorp Gallery, epithets like "psycho-sexual suburban dramas" became velcroed to his disturbing images of dyfunctional family life.
Fischl began his art education in Phoenix, Arizona where his parents had moved in 1967. First at Phoenix Junior College, then a year at Arizona State University, and finally getting his BFA in 1972 at the recently opened California Institute of the Arts in Valencia,California.
After graduation he moved to Chicago where he worked as a guard at the Museum of Contemporary Art. It was in Chicago that Fischl was exposed to the non-mainstream art of the Hairy Who. "The underbelly, carnie world of Ed Paschke and the hilarious sexual vulgarity of Jim Nutt were revelatory experiences for me.", Fischl has said.
In 1974, he got a job teaching painting at the highly touted Nova Scotia College of Art and Design. It is there that he met his future wife, the painter, April Gornik. In 1978 they moved to New York City where they continue to live and work.
For more info:
Calle de Alemania S/N
29001 Malaga
www.cacmalaga.org
“Corrida in Ronda”, the title of the exhibition curated by Fernando Francés, summarises the rich language of the artist’s painting. There are two things about his works that are particularly outstanding and unique in contemporary painting: the use of backlighting to depict the toreadors’ passes and the way he imbues them with an emotive charge.
Corrida in Ronda is surprising because of the expressive power the New York artist has given to the art of bullfighting; on these huge canvases there is nothing but the impressiveness of the bullfight, strong bulls and admirable toreadors. Here we are not looking at an artist of enamelled, uniform surfaces, but rather at a devotee of chiaroscuro. Consequently, light is one of the most significant aspects of his style, and in his works he uses strong contrasts of light that create a sensation of depth. There are some figures that demand a little effort to extract them from the semi-darkness, while others are almost painful to look at because of their overexposure to the sun, a technique that he uses to produce the highest degree of expressiveness in his characters.
Eric Fischl Biography:
Born in New York City in 1948, Eric Fischl grew up in the suburbs of Long Island , his parents having moved there shortly before his second year."Safer place to raise a family", they used to say. Against a backdrop of alcoholism and a country club culture obsessed with image over content, Fischl became focussed on the rift between what was experienced and what could not be said. Until the late 70's, suburbia was not considered a legitimate genre for art. With his first New York show at the Edward Thorp Gallery, epithets like "psycho-sexual suburban dramas" became velcroed to his disturbing images of dyfunctional family life.
Fischl began his art education in Phoenix, Arizona where his parents had moved in 1967. First at Phoenix Junior College, then a year at Arizona State University, and finally getting his BFA in 1972 at the recently opened California Institute of the Arts in Valencia,California.
After graduation he moved to Chicago where he worked as a guard at the Museum of Contemporary Art. It was in Chicago that Fischl was exposed to the non-mainstream art of the Hairy Who. "The underbelly, carnie world of Ed Paschke and the hilarious sexual vulgarity of Jim Nutt were revelatory experiences for me.", Fischl has said.
In 1974, he got a job teaching painting at the highly touted Nova Scotia College of Art and Design. It is there that he met his future wife, the painter, April Gornik. In 1978 they moved to New York City where they continue to live and work.
For more info:
Calle de Alemania S/N
29001 Malaga
www.cacmalaga.org
Labels: cultural-agenda-events
at
15.2.10
