HOENERLOH – RICHARD
Galerie Richard is pleased to present the seventh solo exhibition by Stefan Hoenerloh entitled Short Histories of Modernist Painting. This show delves into the theory of Post-Modernism artistic expression, something that Hoenerloh has closely identified with throughout his career with his depictions of fallen utopian societies and the worn out and weary buildings they leave behind.
The first important aspect to the style of Hoenerloh is his adherence to the qualities of photo-realism. By painting images of buildings in this style, he is able to comment on the real life symbols that architecture represents for our society. For man, architecture is often an indication of status, a mark of his achievements in life. However, in these barren, photo-realistic city-scapes, the viewer is made to see the humor in this idea of architecture as a status symbol. The wear and tear that his buildings show also give the viewer a sense of how long they have been around. Along with the age of the buildingings comes a dignity from the notion that they have been around much longer than we have and will continue to outlast us after we are gone. This idea further reinforces how small we are in the grand scheme of the world.
Perhaps even more important than the photo-realism is the fact that these spaces come from the imagination of the artist. His imagination gives these spaces a ghost-like luminosity and an impression that they were once inhabited by humans and are now just the remnants of a society that is long gone.The combination of these two aspects are the very core of post-modernism. These unidentified, meticulously detailed areas speak of what can be to come of us and therefore have a personal and haunting effect on every viewer.
Stefan Hoenerloh shows a developed civilization now in ruins and virtually no longer in existance. Through this process, he makes us aware of the arrogance of man and the side effects of wanting too much, while providing a way to be masters of our own destiny.
Born in 1960 in Karlsruhe, Stefan Hoenerloh has had exhibitions in both Europe and the United States. Last year he participated in the London Art Fair and in Art Madrid. He also had two solo exhibitions in Milan and Karlsruhe.