Eric Fischl: The Krefeld Project brings together ten historic paintings from the artist’s important series initiated in 2002. Portraying two figures amid elegant interiors of a modernist villa, the works present an affecting narrative of human connection set between fact and fiction.
The project began as a collaboration with the Museum Haus Esters in Krefeld, Germany. Now used as an exhibition space, the house is a former private residence designed by the renowned Bauhaus architect Mies van der Rohe in 1928. For this body of work, Fischl re-furnished the house with iconic objects of art and design hired two actors, and photographed them over two days as they enacted unscripted scenarios suggested by the artist. With over two thousand photographs, Fischl modified and collaged images in Photoshop, composing the scenes for his paintings. Twelve works from the series were later exhibited in the rooms of the museum, staging a dialogue with the architecture and history of the building.
Fusing painting, photography, and collage, the Krefeld Project synthesises the storytelling devices which have been central to Fischl’s artistic language. Constructing each work from multiple photographic images, the artist manipulates light and gesture to create a specific mood, a narrative, influencing the viewer’s perception of the scene.
