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Pieter Schoolwerth: Model as Painting

Past exhibition
21 January - 25 February 2017
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  • Works
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Overview
Pieter Schoolwerth, Model as Painting, January 21 – February 25, 2017 © the artist, Courtesy Capitain Petzel, Berlin, Ph: Jens Ziehe
Pieter Schoolwerth, Model as Painting, January 21 – February 25, 2017 © the artist, Courtesy Capitain Petzel, Berlin, Ph: Jens Ziehe

„I’ve always been interested in the ways
in which the ever-changing, and often
invisible, forces of abstraction in the world
affect the task of representing the human body.“

– Pieter Schoolwerth

 

Capitain Petzel is pleased to announce the first solo exhibition with Pieter Schoolwerth. In “Model as Painting”, the New York based artist presents new works from the same-titled series. The paintings, sculptures and drawings on view propose a new ‘model‘ to depict the compression of space and time that is an intrinsic aspect of digital communication. A film shown downstairs in the gallery, produced in collaboration with Alexandra Lerman, further articulates the artist’s specific and layered process.

 

Pieter Schoolwerth considers all aspects of this process to constitute an expanded definition of “painting”. Initially he produces a drawing from photographs he took of a human model casting shadows. After being blown up, the drawing serves as a template for building a multi-layered sculptural relief of the composition with foamcore. In a next step the artist takes a picture of this three dimensional ‘model’ and reworks the photograph with an image processing software that warps the images of the human body back into parts of the shapes of their cast shadows. After printing the resulting image file on canvas, Schoolwerth applies a final layer of gestural marks in oil paint. In the last stage of the process he goes back and formats the composition of the model as a multilayered series of digital files. With a computer-controlled router machine he then cuts these out in wood and reassembles them as a relief sculpture.

 

Ultimately, this sculpture exists both as a model to produce the paintings and as a sculptural memorial to the completed painterly process. As such, it imitates the technological production of the dematerialized digital space and emphasizes its roots in materialist, analogue referents like products of human labor. As one model often lends itself to producing a series of different paintings, it is comparable to a template or a device into which information is distributed and narrative is developed. Hence, the three-dimensional relief work furthers the idea of a model for a virtual space in painting.

 

Pieter Schoolwerth’s concerns lie in depicting the figure grounded in the ubiquitous glowing screens of digital technology. In his work, the photographed shadows represent the digital performance of the body. By compressing together the images of the body and those of its shadows he exposes the perception of an overall model of “you”. In this manner the artist examines how the mediated reality influences our sense of time, space, and our capacities for attention and the production of memory.

 

Nearly all models on display in the exhibition depict groups of people arguing in various settings. In one of the paintings from the series “A Couple Arguing” Schoolwerth swapped the logos of Berlin’s two local rival football teams representing the East and West. This compression confronts the viewer with the sacrilegious position of the potential of “liking” both teams, which symbolically and historically represent conflicting social classes in the city.

 

The set of the film “The Casting Agent” resembles the wall configuration in the gallery’s main hall and refers to specific series displayed on them. One is titled “Off the Grid”, which constitutes an expression attributed to people who intentionally live beyond the boundaries of the internet and thus, in a sense, resist the abstracting forces of digital technology. Through the allegory of the Rubik’s cube, Schoolwerth combines this resistance directly with the history of the grid in modernist painting. Representing the grid emerged as a method of flattening space and removing representation, narrative, and the figure.

 

The function of paint in the reductive logic of modernist abstraction is analogous to a new agency for paint as such, which arises within Schoolwerth’s set framework and at once “turns the rubric on its head.”1

 

Pieter Schoolwerth was born in St. Louis, Missouri in 1970 and graduated form the California Institute of the Arts in 1994. He lives and works in New York City. His work has been included in group exhibitions at The Museum of Modern Art, New York, Centre Pompidou, Paris, The Aldrich Museum of Contemporary Art, Ridgefield, CT, and the Institute of Contemporary Art, Boston. From 2003 to 2013, Schoolwerth ran Wierd Records and the Wierd Party at Home Sweet Home on the Lower East Side of New York City. Wierd released music by 42 bands working in the genres of minimal electronics, post-punk, and noise, and produced over 500 live music, dj, and performance arts internationally (www.wierdrecords.com).

 

1 Warnock, Molly: „1000 WORDS: PIETER SCHOOLWERTH“, Artforum, January 2017

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Works
  • Pieter Schoolwerth Fuck Me #1, 2016 Oil, acrylic, and giclée print on canvas 228.6 x 304.8 cm 90 x 120 inches
    Pieter Schoolwerth
    Fuck Me #1, 2016
    Oil, acrylic, and giclée print on canvas
    228.6 x 304.8 cm
    90 x 120 inches
  • Pieter Schoolwerth Fuck Me #4, 2016 Oil, acrylic, and giclée print on canvas 58 x 78 inches 147.3 x 198 cm
    Pieter Schoolwerth
    Fuck Me #4, 2016
    Oil, acrylic, and giclée print on canvas
    58 x 78 inches
    147.3 x 198 cm
  • Pieter Schoolwerth Model for "Fuck Me", 2016 Enamel on wood 47 x 62 x 10 inches 119.4 x 157.5 x 25.4 cm
    Pieter Schoolwerth
    Model for "Fuck Me", 2016
    Enamel on wood
    47 x 62 x 10 inches
    119.4 x 157.5 x 25.4 cm
  • Pieter Schoolwerth Off the Grid #2, 2016 Oil, acrylic, and giclée print on canvas 70 x 58 inches 177.8 x 147.3 cm
    Pieter Schoolwerth
    Off the Grid #2, 2016
    Oil, acrylic, and giclée print on canvas
    70 x 58 inches
    177.8 x 147.3 cm
  • Pieter Schoolwerth Off the Grid #3, 2016 Oil, acrylic, and giclée print on canvas 70 x 58 inches 177.8 x 147.3 cm
    Pieter Schoolwerth
    Off the Grid #3, 2016
    Oil, acrylic, and giclée print on canvas
    70 x 58 inches
    177.8 x 147.3 cm
  • Pieter Schoolwerth Withdraw #1, 2016 Oil, acrylic, and giclée print on canvas 203.2 x 197.3 cm 80 x 77.7 inches
    Pieter Schoolwerth
    Withdraw #1, 2016
    Oil, acrylic, and giclée print on canvas
    203.2 x 197.3 cm
    80 x 77.7 inches
  • Pieter Schoolwerth Withdraw #2, 2016 Oil, acrylic, and giclée print on canvas 152 x 148 cm 59.8 x 58.2 inches
    Pieter Schoolwerth
    Withdraw #2, 2016
    Oil, acrylic, and giclée print on canvas
    152 x 148 cm
    59.8 x 58.2 inches
  • Pieter Schoolwerth Anonymous Comment #1, 2016 Oil, acrylic, and giclée print on canvas 207 x 183.5 cm 81.5 x 72.2 inches
    Pieter Schoolwerth
    Anonymous Comment #1, 2016
    Oil, acrylic, and giclée print on canvas
    207 x 183.5 cm
    81.5 x 72.2 inches
  • Pieter Schoolwerth Anonymous Comment #2, 2016 Oil, acrylic, and giclée print on canvas 206.5 x 184 cm 81.3 x 72.4 inches
    Pieter Schoolwerth
    Anonymous Comment #2, 2016
    Oil, acrylic, and giclée print on canvas
    206.5 x 184 cm
    81.3 x 72.4 inches
  • Pieter Schoolwerth Mailbox, 2016 Oil, acrylic, and giclée print on canvas 183 x 223.5 cm 72 x 88 inches
    Pieter Schoolwerth
    Mailbox, 2016
    Oil, acrylic, and giclée print on canvas
    183 x 223.5 cm
    72 x 88 inches
  • Pieter Schoolwerth Break Up #2, 2016 Oil, acrylic, and giclée print on canvas 177.8 x 148 cm 70 x 58.3 inches
    Pieter Schoolwerth
    Break Up #2, 2016
    Oil, acrylic, and giclée print on canvas
    177.8 x 148 cm
    70 x 58.3 inches
  • Pieter Schoolwerth Break Up #3, 2016 Oil, acrylic, and giclée print on canvas 172.7 x 147.3 cm 68 x 58 inches
    Pieter Schoolwerth
    Break Up #3, 2016
    Oil, acrylic, and giclée print on canvas
    172.7 x 147.3 cm
    68 x 58 inches
  • Pieter Schoolwerth Blue Model of a Couple Arguing About Football In Berlin, 2016 Oil, acrylic, and giclée print on canvas 149 x 198 cm 58.7 x 78 inches
    Pieter Schoolwerth
    Blue Model of a Couple Arguing About Football In Berlin, 2016
    Oil, acrylic, and giclée print on canvas
    149 x 198 cm
    58.7 x 78 inches
  • Pieter Schoolwerth Green Model of a Couple Arguing about their Abysmal, Financial Situation, 2016 Oil, acrylic, and giclée print on canvas 228.6 x 304.8 cm 90 x 120 inches
    Pieter Schoolwerth
    Green Model of a Couple Arguing about their Abysmal, Financial Situation, 2016
    Oil, acrylic, and giclée print on canvas
    228.6 x 304.8 cm
    90 x 120 inches
  • Pieter Schoolwerth Model in Blue, 2015 Oil, acrylic, and giclée print on canvas 228.6 x 299.7 cm 90 x 118 inches
    Pieter Schoolwerth
    Model in Blue, 2015
    Oil, acrylic, and giclée print on canvas
    228.6 x 299.7 cm
    90 x 118 inches
  • Pieter Schoolwerth Model for "Green Model of a Couple Arguing About Their Abysmal Financial Situation", 2016 Enamel on wood 119 x 158 x 16.8 cm 46.6 x 62.2 x 6.6 inches
    Pieter Schoolwerth
    Model for "Green Model of a Couple Arguing About Their Abysmal Financial Situation", 2016
    Enamel on wood
    119 x 158 x 16.8 cm
    46.6 x 62.2 x 6.6 inches
  • Pieter Schoolwerth Model for "Anonymous Comment", 2016 Enamel on wood 119.3 x 110.3 x 22 cm 47 x 43.4 x 8.7 inches
    Pieter Schoolwerth
    Model for "Anonymous Comment", 2016
    Enamel on wood
    119.3 x 110.3 x 22 cm
    47 x 43.4 x 8.7 inches
  • Pieter Schoolwerth Model for "Off the Grid", 2016 Enamel on wood 141 x 119.4 x 21 cm 55.5 x 47 x 8.3 inches
    Pieter Schoolwerth
    Model for "Off the Grid", 2016
    Enamel on wood
    141 x 119.4 x 21 cm
    55.5 x 47 x 8.3 inches
  • Pieter Schoolwerth Model for "Break Up", 2016 Enamel on wood 71 x 61 x 9.8 cm 28 x 24 x 3.9 inches
    Pieter Schoolwerth
    Model for "Break Up", 2016
    Enamel on wood
    71 x 61 x 9.8 cm
    28 x 24 x 3.9 inches
  • Pieter Schoolwerth Break Up #00, 2016 Mixed media and collage Signed and dated recto Paper dimensions: 61 x 45.7 cm / 24 x 18 inches Framed dimensions: 65.7 x 50.4 x 3.5 cm / 26 x 19.8 x 1.4 inches
    Pieter Schoolwerth
    Break Up #00, 2016
    Mixed media and collage
    Signed and dated recto
    Paper dimensions:
    61 x 45.7 cm / 24 x 18 inches
    Framed dimensions:
    65.7 x 50.4 x 3.5 cm / 26 x 19.8 x 1.4 inches
  • Pieter Schoolwerth Off the Grid #00, 2016 Mixed media and collage Paper dimensions: 61 x 45.7 cm / 24 x 18 inches Framed dimensions: 65.7 x 50.4 cm / 26 x 19.8 inches
    Pieter Schoolwerth
    Off the Grid #00, 2016
    Mixed media and collage
    Paper dimensions:
    61 x 45.7 cm / 24 x 18 inches
    Framed dimensions:
    65.7 x 50.4 cm / 26 x 19.8 inches
  • Pieter Schoolwerth Model in Blue #00, 2016 Mixed media and collage Paper dimensions: 45.7 x 61 cm / 18 x 24 inches Framed dimensions: 50.4 x 65.7 x 3.5 cm / 19.8 x 26 x 1.4 inches
    Pieter Schoolwerth
    Model in Blue #00, 2016
    Mixed media and collage
    Paper dimensions:
    45.7 x 61 cm / 18 x 24 inches
    Framed dimensions:
    50.4 x 65.7 x 3.5 cm / 19.8 x 26 x 1.4 inches
  • Pieter Schoolwerth Fuck Me #00, 2016 Mixed media and collage Paper dimensions: 45.7 x 61 cm / 18 x 24 inches Framed dimensions: 50.4 x 65.7 x 3.5 cm / 19.8 x 26 x 1.4 inches
    Pieter Schoolwerth
    Fuck Me #00, 2016
    Mixed media and collage
    Paper dimensions:
    45.7 x 61 cm / 18 x 24 inches
    Framed dimensions:
    50.4 x 65.7 x 3.5 cm / 19.8 x 26 x 1.4 inches
  • Pieter Schoolwerth A Couple Arguing #00, 2016 Mixed media and collage 45.7 x 61 cm 18 x 24 inches Framed: 50.4 x 65.7 x 3.5 cm 19.8 x 26 x 1.4 inches
    Pieter Schoolwerth
    A Couple Arguing #00, 2016
    Mixed media and collage
    45.7 x 61 cm
    18 x 24 inches
    Framed:
    50.4 x 65.7 x 3.5 cm
    19.8 x 26 x 1.4 inches
  • Pieter Schoolwerth Anonymous Comment #00, 2016 Mixed media and collage 61 x 45.7 cm 24 x 18 inches Framed: 65.7 x 50.4 x 3.5 cm 26 x 19.8 x 1.4 inches
    Pieter Schoolwerth
    Anonymous Comment #00, 2016
    Mixed media and collage
    61 x 45.7 cm
    24 x 18 inches
    Framed:
    65.7 x 50.4 x 3.5 cm
    26 x 19.8 x 1.4 inches
  • Pieter Schoolwerth Withdraw #00, 2016 Mixed media and collage Signed and dated recto Paper dimensions: 61 x 45.7 cm / 24 x 18 inches Framed dimensions: 65.7 x 50.4 / 26 x 19.8 inches
    Pieter Schoolwerth
    Withdraw #00, 2016
    Mixed media and collage
    Signed and dated recto
    Paper dimensions:
    61 x 45.7 cm / 24 x 18 inches
    Framed dimensions:
    65.7 x 50.4 / 26 x 19.8 inches
  • Pieter Schoolwerth and Alexandra Lerman The Casting Agent, 2017 Created by Pieter Schoolwerth Direction, camera and editing by Alexandra Lerman Performance by Patrick Sarmiento and Pieter Schoolwerth Music by Soren Roi 4k video 06:30 min. loop Edition of 6
    Pieter Schoolwerth and Alexandra Lerman
    The Casting Agent, 2017
    Created by Pieter Schoolwerth
    Direction, camera and editing by Alexandra Lerman
    Performance by Patrick Sarmiento and Pieter Schoolwerth
    Music by Soren Roi
    4k video
    06:30 min. loop
    Edition of 6
  • Pieter Schoolwerth Model for "The Casting Agent", 2017 dimensions variable
    Pieter Schoolwerth
    Model for "The Casting Agent", 2017
    dimensions variable
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Installation Views
  • Schoolwerth Installation View 1

     

  • Schoolwerth Installation View 2

     

  • Schoolwerth Installation View 3

     

  • Schoolwerth Installation View 4

     

  • Schoolwerth Installation View 5

     

  • Schoolwerth Installation View 6
  • Schoolwerth Installation View 8

     

  • Schoolwerth Installation View 9

     

  • Schoolwerth Installation View 11

     

  • Schoolwerth Installation View 12

     

  • Schoolwerth Installation View 13

     

  • Schoolwerth Installation View 15

     

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Press
  • Pieter Schoolwerth, Mailbox, 2016

    Frieze: "Pieter Schoolwerth, Capitain Petzel, Berlin"

    John Quin, March 1, 2017

Related artist

  • Pieter Schoolwerth

    Pieter Schoolwerth

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