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Übermalung (1999-2006)

Do Not Disturb – these works by Erik Schmidt, created between 1999 and 2006, play with the pleasures of revealing and concealing. Images from newspapers, photos of models from the world of advertising, pornographic nudes and landscapes are overpainted with a camouflage-like technique, simultaneously hiding and highlighting details of the images and focusing attention on the outlines of a figure, eyes or sexual organs. At the same time, the overpainting of advertising photographs recalls role models from Pop Art, such as Andy Warhol’s Camouflage Self-Portrait (1986).

The models’ poses, enhanced by the added paint, appear iconic; however, the ironic commentaries in the images subvert the aesthetic of the advertising photos. Art and trash, pop culture and a critique of consumerism are key points of reference in these works.