DAVID SCHNELL
Curated by Pier Paolo Pancotto
NOVO - EDUARDO SECCI MILANO - Via Olmetto
Milan, from September 21 to November 11, 2022
Opening: Wednesday, September 21, 6:00 - 9:00 pm
Exhibition walkthrough video available online
Exhibition view, David Schnell, 2022, NOVO - Eduardo Secci Milano, Photo The Knack Studio, Courtesy the artist and NOVO - Eduardo Secci, Milan, Florence
Eduardo Secci is pleased to announce the first solo show by David Schnell in Milan, from September 21 to November 11, 2022. The exhibition curated by Pier Paolo Pancotto take place at NOVO in Via Olmetto, the independent experimental space of the gallery.
The works conceived in the last nine years give an overview of the process of interweaving nature and architecture in David Schnell’s painting. This choice, inspired by a one-year stay in Rome in 2013, continues to be developed still today.
While earlier, the starting point of the German artist's work consisted mainly of landscape subjects, in these paintings, the interaction between landscape elements and urban architecture from different ages brings to new spatial experience.
“His language blends, in fact, figuration and non-figuration, academia and technology, with the capacity of converting the ghosts of socialist realism into refined references to the art history ranging from ancient to historical avant-gardes”, as the curator Pier Paolo Pancotto writes.
The exhibition walkthrough video with the artist will be online at www.novo.ooo/exhibitions.
Exhibition view, David Schnell, 2022, NOVO - Eduardo Secci Milano, Photo The Knack Studio, Courtesy the artist and NOVO - Eduardo Secci, Milan, Florence
David Schnell’s dualism
Curatorial text by Pier Paolo Pancotto
The work by David Schnell (1971, Bergisch Gladbach; lives and works a in Leipzig) is infused with a constant dualism. He studied at the Hochschule für Grafik und Buchkunst in Leipzig (1995-2000) and then completed his studies (2000-02) following the master classes of Arno Rink, a central figure of the second generation of the so-called “Leipziger Schule” art movement which was later followed by the third generation of the movement, the “Neue Leipziger Schule” promoted, among the others, by Neo Rauch during the post-reunification of Germany. The creative path of Schnell has taken shape in this context. Since the beginning, both in his artistic and professional choices, the artist has been exploring tradition and modernity, classical and contemporary, with such a coherence that he has transformed this only apparent vagueness into a distinctive style. Indeed, his language blends continuities and contrasts between figuration and non-figuration, academia and technology, turning the ghosts of socialist realism into refined references to the history of art, from ancient movements to historical avant-gardes. The result is a hybrid as well as original style. Through a skilful conception of space, rich in classical and Renaissance suggestions, natural or urban landscapes materialise on the canvas, where the protagonist is not the human figure - hardly present at all - but lighting that, rendered by tonal progressions, brings depth and plasticity to the painting. This constant hybridization also permeates his work path where, the dynamics of an author of the new Millennium alternate to those of an artist of tradition. Thus, he perfected his studies living in Italy (Deutsche Akademie Rom, Villa Massimo, Rome, 2013; Wilhelm Kempff Akademie, Positano, 2016; Istituto Centrale per la Grafica / Villa Massimo, Rome, 2017) and he was commissioned to design glass windows for various churches (Friedensfenster, Thomaskirche, Leipzig, 2009; Kirchenfenster, Johanneskapelle, Naumburg, 2014; Rosettenfenster, Christuskirche, Stadtgarten, Cologne, 2016-18) and the decorations for the Infiorata di Genzano flower festival (2013), which have highlighted a strong spiritual component in his painterly research.
Milan’s exhibition, his first solo show in Italy, conveys all these messages. It features a series of large and medium-scale oil on canvas paintings dated between 2013 and 2022 through which we can appreciate the stylistic and compositional coherence that has always characterized Schnell’s art. He depicts landscapes where nature and urban agglomerations are reduced to pure geometrical elements, either juxtaposed or overlapped, as if drained of their original physical element to assume a new entirely intellectual substance given by the perspective structure that supports them. A sapient and sage structure, result of the long and attested familiarity of Schnell with the art of the past, particularly with Renaissance and Baroque art, mostly learned during his long and frequent journeys through Italy. The exhibition also features a collection of carefully selected works on paper that show his remarkable interest in the engraving techniques, here represented in different typologies to illustrate the variety of procedures he likes to measure himself.
David Schnell (1971, Bergisch Gladbach, Germany) lives and works in Leipzig. The artist has held numerous solo shows including Drents Museum, Assen (2020); Kunstsammlungen Chemnitz, Chemnitz (2019); Goethe Institut, Hong Kong (2018); MKM Museum Küppersmühle für Moderne Kunst, Duisburg (2017); Museum zu Allerheiligen, Schaffhausen (2011); Kunstverein Hannover, Hannover (2010); Gemeentemuseum Den Haag, The Hague (2010); Mönchehaus Museum für Moderne Kunst Goslar, Goslar (2007); Museo de Arte de Ponce, Puerto Rico (2007). His paintings have been exhibited in group shows: Museum der bildenden Künste, Leipzig (2022); Drents Museum, Assen (2021); G2 Kunsthalle, Leipzig (2019); Zitadelle Spandau, Berlin (2019); Museum der bildenden Künste, Leipzig (2018); The McNay Art Museum, San Antonio, Texas (2016); Museum Wiesbaden, Wiesbaden (2015); Staatliche Kunstsammlungen Dresden, Dresden (2013); Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen, Rotterdam (2012); CAFAM Biennale 2011, China Central Academy of Fine Arts Museum, Beijing (2011); Museu de Arte de São Paulo, São Paulo (2010); Mart, Museo d’Arte Moderna e Contemporanea di Trento e Rovereto, Rovereto (2008), among others.
Pier Paolo Pancotto is curator of the Art Club exhibition program at Villa Medici - French Academy in Rome.
Eduardo Secci is an Italian art gallery in Florence - where it was founded in 2013 - and Milan with two locations opened in 2021 and 2022. It presents a double program featuring the exhibitions of the main gallery and its independent experimental space NOVO.
NOVO Milano - Via Olmetto (NEW LOCATION)
David Schnell, curated by Pier Paolo Pancotto
From September 21 to November 11, 2022
EDUARDO SECCI Milano - Via Olmetto (NEW LOCATION)
Remains to be seen - Chris Soal
From September 21 to November 11, 2022
Via Olmetto 1, Milan, Italy / +39 02 38248728 / milano@eduardosecci.com
Hours: Tuesday - Saturday, 10:00 am - 1:30 pm / 2:30 - 7:00 pm; Opening: Wednesday, September 21, 6:00 - 9:00 pm
EDUARDO SECCI Milano - Via Zenale
Michael Staniak
From September 23 to November 18, 2022
Harvest of Time - Monika Grzymala
From September 23 to November 18, 2022
Via Zenale 3, Milan, Italy / +39 02 38248728 / milano@eduardosecci.com
Hours: Monday - Friday, 10:00 am - 1:30 pm / 2:30 - 7:00 pm; Opening: Friday, September 23, 11:00 am - 8:00 pm
EDUARDO SECCI Firenze
Gio’ Pomodoro, critical text by Sergio Risaliti
From September 16 to December 23, 2022
NOVO Firenze
The Dream of Reason - Daria Dmytrenko, curated by Edoardo Monti
From September 16 to November 19, 2022
Piazza Goldoni 2, Florence, Italy / +39 055 661356 / firenze@eduardosecci.com
Hours: Tuesday - Saturday, 10:00 am - 1:30 pm / 2:30 - 7:00 pm; Opening: Friday, September 16, 11:00 am - 8:00 pm
www.eduardosecci.com / gallery@eduardosecci.com
IG @eduardoseccigallery / FB @eduardoseccicontemporary
www.novo.ooo / hello@novo.ooo
IG @novo_projects / FB @NOVOprojects
Exhibition walkthroughs videos with artists and curators:
www.eduardosecci.com/exhibitions - www.novo.ooo/exhibitions
Press Office: THE KNACK STUDIO / Tamara Lorenzi
tamara@theknackstudio.com / +39 347 0712934
info@theknackstudio.com / www.theknackstudio.com
DAVID SCHNELL
Curated by Pier Paolo Pancotto
NOVO - EDUARDO SECCI MILANO - Via Olmetto
Milan, from September 21 to November 11, 2022
Opening: Wednesday, September 21, 6:00 - 9:00 pm
Exhibition walkthrough video available online
Exhibition view, David Schnell, 2022, NOVO - Eduardo Secci Milano, Photo The Knack Studio, Courtesy the artist and NOVO - Eduardo Secci, Milan, Florence
Eduardo Secci is pleased to announce the first solo show by David Schnell in Milan, from September 21 to November 11, 2022. The exhibition curated by Pier Paolo Pancotto take place at NOVO in Via Olmetto, the independent experimental space of the gallery.
The works conceived in the last nine years give an overview of the process of interweaving nature and architecture in David Schnell’s painting. This choice, inspired by a one-year stay in Rome in 2013, continues to be developed still today.
While earlier, the starting point of the German artist's work consisted mainly of landscape subjects, in these paintings, the interaction between landscape elements and urban architecture from different ages brings to new spatial experience.
“His language blends, in fact, figuration and non-figuration, academia and technology, with the capacity of converting the ghosts of socialist realism into refined references to the art history ranging from ancient to historical avant-gardes”, as the curator Pier Paolo Pancotto writes.
The exhibition walkthrough video with the artist will be online at www.novo.ooo/exhibitions.
Exhibition view, David Schnell, 2022, NOVO - Eduardo Secci Milano, Photo The Knack Studio, Courtesy the artist and NOVO - Eduardo Secci, Milan, Florence
David Schnell’s dualism
Curatorial text by Pier Paolo Pancotto
The work by David Schnell (1971, Bergisch Gladbach; lives and works a in Leipzig) is infused with a constant dualism. He studied at the Hochschule für Grafik und Buchkunst in Leipzig (1995-2000) and then completed his studies (2000-02) following the master classes of Arno Rink, a central figure of the second generation of the so-called “Leipziger Schule” art movement which was later followed by the third generation of the movement, the “Neue Leipziger Schule” promoted, among the others, by Neo Rauch during the post-reunification of Germany. The creative path of Schnell has taken shape in this context. Since the beginning, both in his artistic and professional choices, the artist has been exploring tradition and modernity, classical and contemporary, with such a coherence that he has transformed this only apparent vagueness into a distinctive style. Indeed, his language blends continuities and contrasts between figuration and non-figuration, academia and technology, turning the ghosts of socialist realism into refined references to the history of art, from ancient movements to historical avant-gardes. The result is a hybrid as well as original style. Through a skilful conception of space, rich in classical and Renaissance suggestions, natural or urban landscapes materialise on the canvas, where the protagonist is not the human figure - hardly present at all - but lighting that, rendered by tonal progressions, brings depth and plasticity to the painting. This constant hybridization also permeates his work path where, the dynamics of an author of the new Millennium alternate to those of an artist of tradition. Thus, he perfected his studies living in Italy (Deutsche Akademie Rom, Villa Massimo, Rome, 2013; Wilhelm Kempff Akademie, Positano, 2016; Istituto Centrale per la Grafica / Villa Massimo, Rome, 2017) and he was commissioned to design glass windows for various churches (Friedensfenster, Thomaskirche, Leipzig, 2009; Kirchenfenster, Johanneskapelle, Naumburg, 2014; Rosettenfenster, Christuskirche, Stadtgarten, Cologne, 2016-18) and the decorations for the Infiorata di Genzano flower festival (2013), which have highlighted a strong spiritual component in his painterly research.
Milan’s exhibition, his first solo show in Italy, conveys all these messages. It features a series of large and medium-scale oil on canvas paintings dated between 2013 and 2022 through which we can appreciate the stylistic and compositional coherence that has always characterized Schnell’s art. He depicts landscapes where nature and urban agglomerations are reduced to pure geometrical elements, either juxtaposed or overlapped, as if drained of their original physical element to assume a new entirely intellectual substance given by the perspective structure that supports them. A sapient and sage structure, result of the long and attested familiarity of Schnell with the art of the past, particularly with Renaissance and Baroque art, mostly learned during his long and frequent journeys through Italy. The exhibition also features a collection of carefully selected works on paper that show his remarkable interest in the engraving techniques, here represented in different typologies to illustrate the variety of procedures he likes to measure himself.
David Schnell (1971, Bergisch Gladbach, Germany) lives and works in Leipzig. The artist has held numerous solo shows including Drents Museum, Assen (2020); Kunstsammlungen Chemnitz, Chemnitz (2019); Goethe Institut, Hong Kong (2018); MKM Museum Küppersmühle für Moderne Kunst, Duisburg (2017); Museum zu Allerheiligen, Schaffhausen (2011); Kunstverein Hannover, Hannover (2010); Gemeentemuseum Den Haag, The Hague (2010); Mönchehaus Museum für Moderne Kunst Goslar, Goslar (2007); Museo de Arte de Ponce, Puerto Rico (2007). His paintings have been exhibited in group shows: Museum der bildenden Künste, Leipzig (2022); Drents Museum, Assen (2021); G2 Kunsthalle, Leipzig (2019); Zitadelle Spandau, Berlin (2019); Museum der bildenden Künste, Leipzig (2018); The McNay Art Museum, San Antonio, Texas (2016); Museum Wiesbaden, Wiesbaden (2015); Staatliche Kunstsammlungen Dresden, Dresden (2013); Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen, Rotterdam (2012); CAFAM Biennale 2011, China Central Academy of Fine Arts Museum, Beijing (2011); Museu de Arte de São Paulo, São Paulo (2010); Mart, Museo d’Arte Moderna e Contemporanea di Trento e Rovereto, Rovereto (2008), among others.
Pier Paolo Pancotto is curator of the Art Club exhibition program at Villa Medici - French Academy in Rome.
Eduardo Secci is an Italian art gallery in Florence - where it was founded in 2013 - and Milan with two locations opened in 2021 and 2022. It presents a double program featuring the exhibitions of the main gallery and its independent experimental space NOVO.
NOVO Milano - Via Olmetto (NEW LOCATION)
David Schnell, curated by Pier Paolo Pancotto
From September 21 to November 11, 2022
EDUARDO SECCI Milano - Via Olmetto (NEW LOCATION)
Remains to be seen - Chris Soal
From September 21 to November 11, 2022
Via Olmetto 1, Milan, Italy / +39 02 38248728 / milano@eduardosecci.com
Hours: Tuesday - Saturday, 10:00 am - 1:30 pm / 2:30 - 7:00 pm; Opening: Wednesday, September 21, 6:00 - 9:00 pm
EDUARDO SECCI Milano - Via Zenale
Michael Staniak
From September 23 to November 18, 2022
Harvest of Time - Monika Grzymala
From September 23 to November 18, 2022
Via Zenale 3, Milan, Italy / +39 02 38248728 / milano@eduardosecci.com
Hours: Monday - Friday, 10:00 am - 1:30 pm / 2:30 - 7:00 pm; Opening: Friday, September 23, 11:00 am - 8:00 pm
EDUARDO SECCI Firenze
Gio’ Pomodoro, critical text by Sergio Risaliti
From September 16 to December 23, 2022
NOVO Firenze
The Dream of Reason - Daria Dmytrenko, curated by Edoardo Monti
From September 16 to November 19, 2022
Piazza Goldoni 2, Florence, Italy / +39 055 661356 / firenze@eduardosecci.com
Hours: Tuesday - Saturday, 10:00 am - 1:30 pm / 2:30 - 7:00 pm; Opening: Friday, September 16, 11:00 am - 8:00 pm
www.eduardosecci.com / gallery@eduardosecci.com
IG @eduardoseccigallery / FB @eduardoseccicontemporary
www.novo.ooo / hello@novo.ooo
IG @novo_projects / FB @NOVOprojects
Exhibition walkthroughs videos with artists and curators:
www.eduardosecci.com/exhibitions - www.novo.ooo/exhibitions
Press Office: THE KNACK STUDIO / Tamara Lorenzi
tamara@theknackstudio.com / +39 347 0712934
info@theknackstudio.com / www.theknackstudio.com
