Michael Raedecker: demo
GRIMM is pleased to announce demo, a new solo presentation by Michael Raedecker at our Van Baerlestraat space in Amsterdam.
GRIMM is proud to announce a solo exhibition of new works by Michael Raedecker opening on June 5th, 2020. This is Michael Raedecker’s fourth solo exhibition with the gallery, marking the inaugural presentation at GRIMM’s new Van Baerlestraat location in Amsterdam.
This will be the first exhibition of Raedecker’s demo works, an ongoing series of small-scale paintings which he refers to as his studies. The historical convention of artists’ studies acting as cursory observations, the steps of a process, is the subject of Raedecker’s inquiry and explored as a metaphorical framework. As in a study, the intuitive mark-making of fast pencil lines, or the splattering and dripping of paint is present, however they are controlled simulations of this process, executed through the rigor of embroidery. While the repetition of images seems to communicate through small variations, the ebb and flow of time, Raedecker’s paintings do not reveal the secrets of this parallel world. They suggest, but never reveal what may unfold in the haunting nocturnal light.
In demo (enantiodromia) the still surface of a woodland pond is enshrouded by lingering daylight. The obscure quality of its illumination speaks to the depth of the location pictured, a persistent image, repeated across multiple works. In these paintings and others, the contours of the environment recede into abstract formations that are ambiguous like patterns at the edge of one’s vision, yet full of material intricacy. Just below the horizon, an unnatural glow rises from the earth, and the world appears to be inverted.
The artist continues to use a combination of embroidery, inkjet transfers, and acrylic, with a singular ability to coalesce these media in a fluid painterly language. This is articulated in the depiction of suburban homes; a recurring symbol, styled as the modern bungalows which ubiquitously dot the landscapes of many countries. Onto their forms the viewer can project any number of stories, perhaps in succession as the lifespan of houses is much longer than our own. These structures are so familiar that they blend seamlessly with the surrounding terrain. Yet Raedecker’s demos intensify their common, pre-existing beauty, relinquishing the grand gestures of narrative, for the alluring charm of the decorative, odd, and illusory.
A publication will be published on the occasion of this exhibition. Pre-order via info@grimmgallery.com
