Our long-time friend and artist whose museum shows, gallery presentations, mural projects, and public interventions we've been featuring for years, Andrew Schoultz, is currently having his first exhibition in the Gulf region. Showing with Volery Gallery, a new, unconventional art space that opened in Dubai, Earth Vessel is introducing a fresh, time-consuming body of maximal work.
Following LA-based artist's practice for a long time, we saw him developing his oeuvre in different directions yet always coming back to these intricate, line and color-based creations. This is why we label his work as "time-consuming and maximal", knowing the dedication, perseverance, and sheer amount of hours that goes into weaving these captivating visuals. And knowing that one of Schoultz's main drives is to create a dynamic and memorable experience for a viewer, these vibrating renditions are an effective way to achieve that goal. The exhibition, which is now on view on the 52nd floor of a building with the world's tallest vertical maze, explores the symbolic and literal meaning of an Earth vessel as a metaphor for the human’s existence and body.
Employing the complementing warm colors and circuitous line work, these abstracted visuals are reflecting on the fact that the essential life balance can be achieved through maintaining physical and mental health. With certain figurative elements as well as abstract forms and patterns evoking a range of emotions and psychological states, these dense compositions show such diverse factors can consolidate into a balanced composition. Purposely using the optical and abstract shapes alongside lines of overheated reds and bright yellows instead of representational imagery, Schoultz is hoping for an emotional rather than literal reading of his work. More interested in the mental, subconscious, and spiritual aspect of the human body as an Earth vessel, the exhibition captures the results of balancing the opposites as well as the consequences of losing that stability. In a bigger picture, the same balance is required for a positive effect on our surroundings, and as seen on the installation photos, the nine pulsating new paintings feel as if they're opening new portals above Dubai's impressive skyline. —Sasha Bogojev
