Artist in Residence at Randolph Cliff, Edinburgh
6-7pm, Wednesday 26 November 2008, at the Hawthornden Lecture Theatre, National Galleries of Scotland, The Mound
David Schutter (born 1974) is one of the leading proponents of the younger generation of American artists and is Assistant Professor at the Department of Visual Arts of the University of Chicago. Recent exhibitions have included solo shows at the Tony Wight Gallery, Chicago; Aurel Scheibler, Berlin; the Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago, and the Gemäldegalerie, Berlin.
At first glance Schutter's works appear almost monochromatic. In reality, they are the result of an elaborate research process centered on selected paintings by Old Masters. Schutter makes numerous preparatory and observational studies of selected works, but rather than producing a copy, he uses these sketches, or "Tafelets" as a visual aid with which to create his own version of the paintings from memory. Each painting, which is on a 1:1 scale of the original, operates as a lyrical conversation piece across time, a "parlour painting" that evokes the ways in which we see and retain images. Schutter has produced paintings in response to works by Watteau, Rubens, Vermeer and Rembrandt and, more recently, he developed an exceptional series based on Constable's cloud studies from the collection of the Yale Center for British Art.
During his residency at Randolph Cliff, Schutter will study Siméon Chardin's A Vase of Flowers from the mid 1750s from the National Gallery of Scotland's collection. A Vase of Flowers is Chardin's only surviving flower piece and one of his best known paintings. Schutter's studies in Edinburgh will lead to a new set of works painted from memory that explore the mysteries of Chardin's approach as a painter.
Randolph Cliff is a joint art initiative of Clémentine Deliss and Charles Asprey, supported by the Edinburgh College of Art and the National Galleries of Scotland. Forthcoming artists include Adrian Piper, Manfred Pernice, Marc Camille Chaimowicz, Frances Stark, Dexter Sinister, and Joseph Kosuth. For further information please contact clementine.deliss@eca.ac.uk or Melissa MacRobert melmacrobert@hotmail.com
Edinburgh College of Art (eca) is a charity registered in Scotland, number SC009201
