Peter Freeman

Thomas Schütte

17 Feb - 31 Mar 2012

© Thomas Schütte
Exhibition view, Woodcuts - 2011
Galerie Nelson-Freeman, Paris
2012
THOMAS SCHÜTTE
Woodcuts - 2011
17 February - 31 March, 2012

The Galerie Nelson-Freeman is delighted to present a never-before-seen series of monumental woodcuts (2011) by Thomas Schütte. Eighteen works from Schütte’s Frauen portfolio (2006) will also be on view.

Since the 1980s, Thomas Schütte has developed, in tandem with his sculptures, an extraordinary corpus of works on paper. The different techniques explored (nyloprint, woodcut, etching) enable him to address a vast array of subjects (flower, portrait, architecture) with a variety of graphic and pictorial effects.

Here, the woodcutting technique allows Thomas Schütte to revisit for the third time—in a more graphic and very colourful manner—the motifs of his 1984 series entitled Die Burg (The Castle). First made in watercolour on paper in a small format (collection Centre Pompidou, Paris), he then enlarged them (still in 1984) using the technique of lacquer on paper. For this 2011 series, created in a monumental format (250 x 160 cm), he used nine of the fifteen motives that composed the original series. They represent different elements of architecture and furniture of a fictional castle: brick wall, staircase, door, table, window, and fireplace. Each woodblock used for the etching is made up of different types of wood, with the veining of the woods creating a play on textures.

The Frauen portfolio (2006), made up of 18 etchings, was modelled after the 18-work series of platform-propped metal sculptures of women (1998-2006). In this work, the artist revisits the representation of the female form. Drawing from classical and modern sculpture, he summons figures by Brancusi, Arp, Moore, even Bourdelle and Rodin. In these etchings, Thomas Schütte documents this ensemble of sculptures in a stylised manner, applying a single colour per etching.

Born in 1954, Thomas Schütte lives and works in Düsseldorf. Several retrospectives have recently been devoted to his work: Haus der Kunst, Munich (2009); Hindsight, Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía, Madrid (2010); Big Buildings, Models and Views (1980-2010), Kunst- und Ausstellungshalle der Bundesrepublik Deutschland, Bonn (2010). From February 23 to April 7, 2012, the artist’s first solo exhibition of new work in New York in seven years will be shown in the new space of Peter Freeman, Inc., at 140 Grand Street.
 

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