viralbandit
After a first glance at the figures present in Tim Eitel’s oil paintings and lithographs, it is probable that they would be met with a classical art historian’s seal of approval. However, by composing them in settings often void of naturalistic detail, Eitel comments on the physical and psychological experience of modern life.
This manipulation of context plays a great role in Eitel’s artistic process. His method begins with lifting a visual element from a photograph of an urban space, often imagery of solitary journeys, homelessness or a quiet moment amongst a crowd. Photos operate as preliminary sketches for the Berlin-based artist, and the final image often materialises as an ambiguously collated selection of figures and motifs. Eitel confuses a viewer’s understandings of place and narrative, translating found imagery into a reduced, fictional framework of block colour and sparse surroundings. By presenting these images in ambiguous settings, Eitel questions the meaning a viewer can predict to interpret in his work, which relates to his sensitive beliefs towards the artistic exploitation of misery in society. As his paintings offer more objective studies of modern life scenarios, Eitel leaves a viewer aware of their own understanding of such physical and psychological experiences.
Eitel is originally from Leonberg in Southern Germany and is currently based in Berlin. Here, he is represented by Galerie EIGEN + ART, as well as Pace Gallery in New York.
