ausgestellt:

22.05.-12.07.2025 SARAH BECHTER Jostle, Galerie Elisabeth & Klaus Thoman, Vienna, AT



While “jostle” conveys a sense of overabundance, the figurative paintings are characterized by a dual emptiness. The figures do not assert themselves within a densely populated pictorial space but rather against a backdrop in which they threaten to dissapear. Moreover, in some areas of the composition painted in pigment, ink, and oil paint, the canvas emerges, shifting the focus from subject matter to painterly technique. In Unbalancing This Structure (2025), for example, both moments can be observed: In front of a firmament of blues, violets, and reds, a solitary figure—barely distinguishable from the background—balances on a balustrade. While the fantastic flickering and weightlessness suggest a dreamlike scene, the schematically indicated architecture of the dome frames the painting’s relation to reality. At the apex of the dome, the so-called oculus, the canvas is exposed, bearing only the muted tone of the pigment mixed into the gesso during the priming process. In the diptych Throwing Gestures At Each Other (2025), a representative piece of architecture similarly adorns the backdrop of the picture. Here, the figures facing each other are not falling or floating; rather, they appear to have been propelled to the edges of the picture by a force emanating from the empty center. Between them lie only artichokes, as associated at the beginning, which are a symbol of wealth. Here, they become pawns in the competition for attention and recognition in the art scene. Every exchanged gesture, however, carries the risk of sacrificing of a part of one’s heart. (Leonie Huber, abstract from the exhibition text for ‘Jostle’, 05.2025)