Hilger contemporary
Dorotheergasse 5
1010 Vienna
tel: -43-1-512 53 15-13
fax: -43-1-512 53 15-32
http://www.hilger.at
Hubert Schmalix – one of the leading representatives of the so called “Neue Wilden” – the New Wild Gang – who from the late seventies onwards gave the art market a whole new boost with their expressive style of painting – started out by taking a representational approach even his early works. His motifs are the classic genres of still life, portraits, landscapes and nudes. The artist has a wild and expressive mode of addressing the objective world and the human image, though in recent years ever more serenity and depth have found their way into his work. He manifests his subtle feeling for the nuances of colour and composition in his affinity to sensuous painting, in which the elements of gesture, expression, myth and ornament unite.
“I paint with my own hands… The process of painting is very important for me. I love filling and structuring planes with colour. Working on a picture is a great adventure that starts with the idea of a scene. Then comes the detailed work, photographing and drawing objects I want to include; research in the archive of my books, my drawings and collected photocopies of motifs I can use. When I think the scene corresponds to my idea, I copy its drawing onto a film which I project onto the canvas and trace the lines with the brush. I travel freely beyond the limits of the line with generous, swinging strokes of the brush. I mix the paint with terpentine in a tin until it’s soft and easy to apply, and paint extensive parts of the canvas with good, large, soft brushes. The picture surface remains flat, becomes matte, but has great luminance…”
- Hubert Schmalix
Further artists at Art37Basel 06: Daniele Buetti, Erró, Oliver Dorfer, Flavio Favelli, John Gerrard, Alfred Hrdlicka, Anastasia Khoroshilova, Brian McKee, Jiri Kolar, Angel Marcos, Julie Monaco, Hermann Nitsch, Hubert Schmalix, Hans Staudacher, Massimo Vitali.
For further information please contact the gallery: contemporary@hilger.at.
