Untitled
2013
Oil on canvas
243.8 × 168.3 cm (96 × 66 1/4 in.)
The disturbing silhouette of a medieval sculpture featuring the skeletal figure of death riding a lion occupies the full length of the work Untitled. Looking at first glance like the oversized reproduction of an old black and white photograph taken from an art book, the image is in fact a large oil painting that could easily pass for the hyperrealist aesthetic of the photographic medium.
Since 2005, the painter Rudolf Stingel has produced a series of large figurative paintings with photorealist patterns in greyscale or black and white, begun by enlarging original photos and finished by hand. The work, which follows exactly this practice, intensifies the ancient motif of the memento mori, by monumentalising it, reinforced by the dark, dated and timeless finish of the photographic aesthetic.
Untitled was first exhibited by the Pinault Collection at the "Rudolf Stingel" show, which was held in 2013 at the Palazzo Grassi in Venice.
Since 2005, the painter Rudolf Stingel has produced a series of large figurative paintings with photorealist patterns in greyscale or black and white, begun by enlarging original photos and finished by hand. The work, which follows exactly this practice, intensifies the ancient motif of the memento mori, by monumentalising it, reinforced by the dark, dated and timeless finish of the photographic aesthetic.
Untitled was first exhibited by the Pinault Collection at the "Rudolf Stingel" show, which was held in 2013 at the Palazzo Grassi in Venice.
Exhibitions
Photo by Tom Powel Imaging, Courtesy the artist
