The Lia Rumma Gallery in Milan is pleased to present Eden, the first personal exhibition of the German artist Hendrik Krawen to be held in Italy.
The title chosen by the artist for this new series of works stem from his personal reflections upon the concept of Eden, the ideal, uncontaminated location of Paradise according to Biblical tradition. Thanks to technology, progress, and capitalism, modern man – according to the artist – has attained a sort of Paradise which still does not resemble the lost Eden. The artist reflects on a lot of mankind, suspended between the loss of our original privileged condition and the continuous tension involved in regaining our original prosperity.
The subject matter of Krawen’s paintings is modernity and its contradictions. Using predominantly monochrome tones, his works provide us with an unusual perspective of the urban landscape, liberated from space/time references. The artist observes reality from an original standpoint. Just like the photographer’s lens, his eye seems to close in gradually on the visual field until it focuses on architectural details or individual figures, decontextualizing them in the process. This approach can be traced back to the artistic vision that developed in German photography during the second half of the twentieth century. Several specific details appear in his paintings: a window, an architectural detail, a wall in the suburbs, palm trees and electricity pylons. The landscape rarely features human figures and when they do appear, they seem to be suspended in metaphysical isolation, creating an alienating atmosphere.
