Our good friend Andrew Schoultz (who has been very busy recently) will be opening another solo show, Beast of Burden, at Galerie Droste in Wuppertal, Germany, on June 9th, 2018. Showcasing new works on canvas and paper, plus an in situ installation, the new body of work is partially referring to his life journey from Milwaukee, Wisconsin, to San Francisco, and later LA.
Through his densely-layered paintings, the LA-based artist is exploring patterns in history related to war, natural disasters and globalization. Depicted through repetitive use of signature imagery, and rendered with meticulous, labor-intensive line work to accent the complexity of the setting, Schoultz’s work is profoundly chaotic, both visually and thematically.
For Beast of Burden, Schoultz sourced his inspiration from underground comics, graffiti, German map-making, the archaic illustrations of the Nuremberg Chronicle of 1492 and Persian Miniatures, developing a vibrant visual language through which he is referencing contemporary and historic socio-political issues. The subjects such as the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, the 2016 U.S Election, the rise of China as an economic giant, natural disasters, the recession in the U.S., to the fall of the Persian and Roman Empires, points to the artist’s interest in the cyclical nature of history which is then accented through use of both primitive and modern symbolism. Through his images, the artist doesn't just want to imply certain ideas but is inviting the observer to an open dialogue. This particular approach is a key factor why the artist continues to paint murals all around the world along with successful studio practice, constantly trying to introduce these complex contents to regular, working-class communities instead of selected gallery or museum art audience. —Sasha Bogojev
Beast of Burden will be on view from 9th of June - 4th of August 2018