Dan Schein: Backyard Shenanigans. 2011, oil on canvas, 174 x 230 cm
The young American painter Dan Schein exhibits for the first time in Europe at Galleri Tom Christoffersen. After he gratuated and got his MFA at Tyler School of Art, Temple University, Philadelphia last year, he had a residency in Switzerland in Stein Am Rhein, Chretzeturm, where most of the works for the exhibition were made.
Dan Schein's paintings are figurative and narrative. Each of them is like a frozen movie-still, or as a transitional image in a comic strip between the speech bubbles. There is an action going on. The "scenes" are played out in the landscape, the forest and the closest we come the urbane life is the detached house gardens. "Actors" can be merry nudist couples or the lonely wanderer and no one seems to notice "the camera". The awkward, amusing or melancholy, sad scenes appear hushed but incredibly evocative and a story is brought to life in each one. The naked couple enjoying themselves after their barbecue in the garden with the Weber Grill tells about present times, while the angry mob of peasants with pitchforks tells about the past.
It is particularly in nature depiction Dan Schein's painterly characteristics emerge. His very coarse broad strokes and the angular markings are reminiscent of the Danish artist Erik Hoppe (1896-1968). And like Erik Hoppe searched for one of "colour meaning" in art does Dan Schein. It's not about the colour as brilliant or powerful, but about its fullness and depth. Dan Schein puts like Hoppe colour against colour and frames in the heavy surfaces a melancholic (almost Nordic) tone. Going further back in the Danish art history Dan Schein's depictions of trees and sky can remind one of Albert Gottschalk's (1866-1906) "unfinished" symbolism. It is sensual with a strong textural tension. Dan Schein paints, like Gottschalk, colours into the landscape attuned to light and weather, and balanced together with the action taking place in the picture, he pinpoints the instantaneous character of reality.
Dan Schein (b.1985). 2009-2011: M.F.A Candidate in Painting, Tyler School of Art, Temple University, Philadelphia PA. 2004-2008: Purchase College SUNY, Purchase NY, Bachelor of Fine Arts, May 2008, Major in Painting.
works
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Installation view
Dan Schein: AS YOU STAND THERE WATCHING
Galleri Tom Christoffersen 2012 |
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Installation view
Dan Schein: AS YOU STAND THERE WATCHING
Galleri Tom Christoffersen 2012 |
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Installation view
Dan Schein: AS YOU STAND THERE WATCHING
Galleri Tom Christoffersen 2012 |
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Installation view
Dan Schein: AS YOU STAND THERE WATCHING
Galleri Tom Christoffersen 2012 |
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Installation view
Dan Schein: AS YOU STAND THERE WATCHING
Galleri Tom Christoffersen 2012
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Installation view
Dan Schein: AS YOU STAND THERE WATCHING
Galleri Tom Christoffersen 2012 |
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Dan Schein
Bear Eats Legs
2011
Oil on canvas
135 x 245 cm |
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Dan Schein
Genitals Reflected Fishing Trip
2011
Oil on canvas
132 x 172 cm |
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Dan Schein
Drinking Brews in a Speeding Truck
2011
Oil on canvas
60 x 80 cm |
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Dan Schein
Leg Wound
2011
Oil on canvas
60 x 70 cm |
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Dan Schein
Snouts in the Trough
2011
Oil on canvas
80 x 100 cm |
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Dan Schein
The Mysterious Thing That Happened After the Unnecessary Hauling of the Bucket
2011
Oil on canvas
50 x 70 cm |
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Dan Schein
Pigs in a Pile
2011
Oil on canvas
60 x 90 cm |
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Dan Schein
Burn Everything
2011
Oil on canvas
50 x 70 cm |
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Dan Schein
Squeezing Udders
2011
Oil on canvas
60 x 80 cm |
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Dan Schein
Garbage Day
2011
Oil on canvas
60 x 70 cm |
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Dan Schein
Beers, BBQ, and Fucking in the Pool
2011
Oil on canvas
60 x 80 cm |
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Dan Schein
Standard Behavior
2011
Oil on canvas
50 x 70 cm |
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Dan Schein
"Dont Worry Cows, It's Only Death"
2011
Oil on canvas
80 x 100 cm |
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Dan Schein
"Okay Higgins, Your Turn"
2011
Oil on canvas
60 x 80 cm |
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Dan Schein
The Self Important man in Nature who Thinks about Things Different from the way That Things are Usually Thought About
2011
Oil on canvas
40 x 50 cm |
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Dan Schein
Arthritic Swine
2011
Oil on canvas
70 x 60 cm |
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Dan Schein
The Guy Who Stood There for a While
2011
Oil on canvas
60 x 70 cm |
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Dan Schein
Car Park Overdose
2011
Oil on canvas
140 x 190 cm |
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Dan Schein
"This Blows"
2011
Oil on canvas
50 x 70 cm |
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Dan Schein
"Oh crap"
2011
Oil on canvas
60 x 90 cm |
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Dan Schein
Priest Drinks Wine
2011
Oil on canvas
40 x 30 cm |