PHILIPP KEEL – LAST SUMMER
Zurich - From September to October 2019
GUEST SPEAKER: BENEDICT WELLS, AUTHOR
The exhibition lasts until October 19th.
We are pleased to open the 2019/2020 gallery season with Philipp Keel`s second solo exhibition at Bildhalle.
«The most glorious summers are often also the most painful. Because we rarely feel more alive. And at their end, we are all the more reminded that everything will have to pass by eventually. If you look at Philipp Keel`s new works for `Last Summer`, you notice the absence of people--aside from a single nude. Instead, there are predominantly images of palm trees, pools, drinks, in addition to still lifes, that initially seem cool and summery, as well as interspersed snapshots and playful poetry glanced from the tail of his eye. All the images are united by the artist`s attention to special details and moods, but closer inspection reveals the melancholy that permeates many of the works. Often the moment has already passed or can only be seen blurred at the edges of consciousness. What remains is a feeling of transience, perhaps even a touch of loneliness.
One of the great strengths of these works is that the images remain subtle and reserved. The viewer can find in them what s/he wants to find. Sometimes the melancholy is light-hearted and only like a gentle, not unpleasant tug at a taut chord deep inside us. But sometimes there`s more to it than meets the eye. `Last Summer` leads us to a threshold. The evening has dawned, one stands alone on the porch with a drink and looks out, notices the laughter of friends in the background, sees the last daylight fading. The memory serves us sometimes flickering, sometimes clear images of a day that passed far too quickly. Maybe one becomes momentarily wistful, but perhaps one might simply turn around and return to the others.»
Benedict Wells, July 2019
More about the artist
