“There
is a saying that we only see what we know, and sociologically, this
notion might explain why it is so easy to ignore the homeless, the
cardboard boxes, and the pigeons, that are all over the streets... If you don’t ‘know’ these things, they become invisible. But
in front of a painting, you bring so many things you know already—your
expectations, taste, opinions—that you can’t help but look at the
subject with other eyes. A painting is much like an invitation to go
and see things differently," — this is what German-born/New York-based artist Tim Eitel says regarding his paintings featured in Invisible Forces, his current solo exhibition at Pace Wildenstein (from the press release).
The gallery is lined with single rows of his colorful, small-scale canvases (~12"x12"), widely spaced apart, with two larger canvases occupying two walls in the back rooms (Crows and Untitled (Cot), both 2009). The artist creates stunning, realist, oil paintings that feature "disconnected worlds extracted from time." Eitel "isolates
his anonymous subjects from their contexts, profoundly elevating the
significance of every gesture and nuance. Past and present, memories,
feelings, and associations converge, evoking ambiguous narratives which
force viewers to reexamine their own perceptions of society and to see
that which they often allow to become invisible."
These paintings are based on details from photos Eitel shoots "on city streets as part of an ongoing investigation of the world surrounding him. Eitel uses ambiguous settings and distills out all reference to motion or change, allowing the works to become a lens into the viewer’s own contextual references and associations." The results are quiet yet moving and beautiful depictions of fringes of city-life and society that we ordinarily overlook or perhaps choose not to see. Learn more at Pacewildenstein.com. Through December 5th.
Untitled (Balance), 2009
Untitled (Bench), 2009
Untitled (Cot), 2009
Untitled (Reclining), 2009
Untitled (TF), 2009
Untitled (Transit), 2009
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