Mark Staff Brandl. Painting Acted Artists. Vernissage. Jedlitschka Gallery. 20.11.2015

As the exhibition title Painting Acted Artists implies, artist Mark Staff Brandl is showing a series of paintings wherein he has portrayed famous artists from art history. Yet in truth the images are of actors playing these figures.

Detail

Detail

Press Release
The Jedlitschka Gallery in Zurich, Switzerland is exhibiting paintings by the artist Mark Staff Brandl from November 20th 2015 through January 15th, 2016. The opening reception is Friday, November 20th from 5 to 9 pm, with a speech by Markus Landert, Director of the Art Museum of Thurgau. The artist will be in attendance. A roundtable discussion on metaphor(m) will occur on Friday December 18th, 6:30 pm with the artist, Dr. Daniel Ammann of Zurich, Dr. Andreas Langlotz of Basel and Alex Meszmer of Pfyn.
From Cinema to Canvas – Portrait of the Actor as Artist on the Screen
As the exhibition title «Painting Acted Artists» implies, artist Mark Staff Brandl is showing a series of paintings wherein he has portrayed famous artists from art history. Yet in truth the images are of actors playing these figures. Brandl used references from feature and documentary films where he found the artists particularly well rendered, both visually and in character.
Brandl is both an artist and art historian, so is keenly aware of how nowadays we know art history chiefly from mediation through such technology as films, TV, internet, lectures and books. Conversely, contemporary viewers have never seen more art in person than ever before in history. The show is a kind of meditation on this dream of art history. It includes 20 paintings, a 3D object, a video by Stephen Krag, and a Brandl Gift Shop by Diana Möhr.
Paintings include Jean-Michel Basquiat and Andy Warhol (portrayed by Jeffrey Wright and David Bowie), Georgia O’Keeffe (Joan Allen), Paul Gauguin (Anthony Quinn), Rembrandt (Charles Laughton), Leonardo da Vinci (John Glover), Hugo Ball (Doug Fitch), and many more, as well as images of piles of books and materials related to mediated art history, some with exact hand-painted citations of the famous artists’ works.
The Roundtable about Metaphor(m) will include entertaining portrayals of authors and writing in film by Daniel Ammann, his own theory of metaphor(m) by Brandl, stimulating insights into metaphor and literature by Andreas Langlotz and a discussion of democracy and mediation in art by Alex Meszmer.
As in important museums, another form of art history mediation, Brandl’s exhibition will feature a Gift Shop as both installation and actual working shop of materials related to Brandl’s exhibition of mediated art history, organized by Diana Möhr: Posters, T-Shirts, buttons, books, a theme song CD and more.
Mark Staff Brandl was born in 1955 near Chicago, where he lived for many years. He has lived primarily in Switzerland since 1988, in Trogen for 15 years. He is an associate professor of art history and painting at the Kunstschule Liechtenstein and Schule für Gestaltung St.Gallen. Brandl is active internationally as an artist since 1980, has won various awards, had many publications and had numerous exhibitions. His shows include galleries and museums in the US, Switzerland, Germany, Italy, Egypt, the Caribbean; specific cities include Paris, Moscow, Chicago, Los Angeles and New York. Works of his have been acquired by the Museum of Modern Art in New York, Victoria and Albert Museum in London, The Whitney Museum in New York, the Museum of Contemporary Art in Chicago, the St. Gallen Art Museum, The Thurgau Museum of Fine Art, The E.T.H. Graphic Collection in Zurich, The Museum of Contemporary Art in Los Angeles, the International Museum of Cartoon Art, the Art Museum Olten and others.
He studied art, art history, philosophy and literary theory at the University of Illinois, Illinois State University, Columbia Pac University, and received his Ph.D. in Art History magna cum laude from the University of Zurich in 2011.

Laudatio: Markus Landert, Direktor Kunstmuseum Thurgau

 Markus Landert

 Markus Landert (L), Mark Staff Brandl (R).

Detail

Vernissage : Freitag, 20. November 17:00 – 20:00 Uhr
Opening: Friday 20th November 5 pm – 8 pm
Exhibition / Ausstellung: 20. November – 15. Januar
Laudatio: Markus Landert, Direktor Kunstmuseum Thurgau
Finissage / Closing: Freitag 15. Januar, 17:00 – 20:00 Uhr, Friday 15th January 5 pm – 8 pm

Jedlitschka Gallery
Seefeldstrasse 52
8008 Zürich
Tel. +41 (0)44 252 35 30
info@jedlitschka-gallery.ch www.jedlitschka-gallery.ch
www.markstaffbrandl.com