M A T T H I A S M E Y E R
U N B O U N D
11. FEBRUARY – 15. APRIL 2023
Galerie Wilma Tolksdorf is pleased to present Matthias Meyer's fourth solo exhibition at the gallery. The title UNBOUND refers to a deliberate selection of different new works, exhibiting characteristics of representational and abstract painting variously combined by the artist. The works comprise of fine layers of paint applied to the canvas in a wet-on-wet technique, hence unfolding a lightness and transparency, even though the bright colors appear to saturate the material.
The motifs of the works are generally based on a number of sketches. The artist draws on various media, such as pencil and acrylic sketches or his own and collected photographic material. Meyer also perceives the photographic model as a sketch. The details are of lesser interest to him than the formal composition of the picture and the color distribution.
From a fleeting memory, the sketches unfold in the creative process on the canvas while the pictorial character of the originals is to be preserved. This memory is fed by a bundle of images and impressions, so that often different motifs affect the paintings and merge with each other. Color gradients and blurring refer to the interlocking and coexistence of the various influences.
As the artist's paintings are based on a variety of imagery such as landscape or architectural photographs, as well as images of abstract art, the works sometimes feature more and sometimes less figurative or abstract elements, depending on the subject. Blaue Beeren, 2022, for example, is based on a composition by Fritz Winter and Wild Berries, 2023 on a photograph of a mall in Hong Kong. While the works as a whole appear abstract, the fruits themselves create a representational effect. The artist proceeds in a similar manner in the paintings Luna Lake, 2022 or Metro Lake, 2022, when he adds lily pads in the painting process, thus developing a figurative work again from an abstractly painted picture surface. The photograph of a street intersection as well as the influences of graffiti from Los Angeles are in turn reflected in the work of the same name Los Angeles, 2022.
Matthias Meyer (*1969 in Göttingen) studied under Gerhard Richter and Dieter Krieg at the Kunstakademie in Düsseldorf and at Chelsea College of Art in London. Works by the artist are in major art collections worldwide and have been exhibited nationally and internationally in New York, Kyoto, Munich and Amsterdam, among others. At the end of this year, the Kunstverein Speyer will dedicate a solo show to the artist.
For further informationen and press images please contact
GALERIE WILMA TOLKSDORF via 069 - 430 594 27 or office@wilmatolksdorf.de