Opening on December 28 @ 6 - 8pm (Thursday)
Exhibition from December 21, 2023 - March 15, 2024
For the new winter season Studio Naegeli is delighted to present artworks of two great artists, Hannes Schmid (1946) and Mikhail Romadin (1940-2012)
We invite you to have a look back in time and discover previously unseen artworks of the two artists. Featured are single copies of vintage prints and Polaroids by Hannes Schmid taken in the years between 1990 and 1999 as well as one-offs of his iconic "American Myth" cowboy series. Mikhail Romadin’s archival works such as sketches and originals of his famous book illustrations will be exhibited for the first time.
After the Christmas preview days we will see how Schmid's "American Myth" cowboys slowly and gentlemanly give way to the female heroes of today, and the "Poets" from Romadin's canvases enter into an equal dialog with his "Beauties" from 2000.
The exhibition features Hannes Schmid's photographs from such series as "Missing Marylin", "El Matador" and photography from his fascinating journeys from Bolivia to Mongolia, Mikhail Romadin's two iconic diptychs "The Beauties" and "The Artists", his watercolors from India, Nepal and USA, as well as the book illustrations, highlighting the commitment to eternal moving forward.
Hannes Schmid and Mikhail Romadin both share their interest in visual anthropology. Following the principles of "participant observation" there is a unique story lived by the artists alongside their protagonists behind each of the artworks. "It wasn't enough for me to just experience a story, I had to live it" says Hannes Schmid. Mikhail Romadin used a similar method, mostly painting on site, simultaneously living and illustrating the present moment.
As a result, even Schmid's staged photographs and Romadin's paintings, where the lines between fiction and reality are blurred, constitute documentation of an authentic cultural experience. This staged narrative-conceptual approach of Schmid is very much representing the postmodern discourse on the authenticity of the fake and the originality of the copy (Matthias Frehner). The intricacy of the dense detail in Romadin's work is striking, and the viewer is drawn to examine each piece individually, but this realism is also deceptive. Romadin achieves this with a cinematic approach, using close-ups, expressive angles and the illusion of cinematic compositional dynamics.
Andrey Tarkovsky about Mikhail Romadin: "His (Mikhail Romadin’s) creative principles do not obscure for us the simple and crucial bonds with reality. Whereas they аrе not so notional that we would not bе able to notice а tendency within these principles towards a fruitful emotional dynamic соnсеntrated in his creative process".
Matthias Frehner, working on Hannes Schmid's solo exhibition at the Kunstmuseum Bern wrote: "When he (Hannes Schmid) becomes a member of a specific group and aesthetic community as a photographer, he still remains Hannes Schmid, who sticks to his own aesthetic vision. (...) The quasi-ethnological images that are created in this way are neither snapshots nor radical stagings. Rather, they are situational arrangements of reality at the crucial moment, in the right place, with the right objects and people".
Swiss artist Hannes Schmid (1946) is most sought after for his extraordinary photo-essays. Born in 1946 to Swiss parents, he was trained as an electrician, but found his true calling in photography while travelling on a work trip in South Africa. Largely self-taught, yet a consummate master of the medium, his decades-spanning works are sans pareil unconventional and recognized in various genres of photography.
Photography is Hannes’s way of bearing witness to his curious eye and unwavering determination to seek out the truth. Some of his most recognized works include the iconic Marlboro Man, Rockstars, For Gods Only, and Human Currents which have been exhibited at various galleries and museums. In recent years, he has delved into a variety of art forms to create a provocative body of work, which includes transforming his Marlboro Man onto the canvas and a social sculpture, taking place in Cambodia.
Despite having earned various nominations and awards (including an Honorary Doctorate bestowed on Hannes by the University of Zurich), Hannes belongs to a category of artists that goes beyond the confines of traditional photography.
His photographies are in the collections of Private Basler Stiftung, Fachstelle Kultur des Kantons Zürich (Culture Agency of the Canton of Zurich), Fotostiftung Schweiz (Swiss Foundation for Photography), Winterthur, Julius Baer Art Collection, Zurich, Museum Folkwang, Essen, Collection Rainer-Marc Frey, Zurich, Collection Per Gunnar Strømberg Rasmussen, Bergen, Norway and others.
Mikhail Romadin (1940 - 2012) was a painter, movie art director and book illustrator. He was born in the Soviet Union and lived in the USA, Paris and Monaco, he was an honorary citizen of the cities of Fort Worth and Texarkana (USA).
Romadin was a Honorary Doctorate of the International Academy For Contemporary Arts in Belgium AIAC and member of the International Art Association (UNESCO).
He collaborated with such a legends as Andrey Tarkovsky, Michelangelo Antonioni, Tonino Guerra and was a production designer on several movies and books among others Tarkovsky's movie "Solaris" (1972) and "Andrey Rublev".
"Romadin's character is hidden, forced deep inside. In his best works what often happens is that the outward characteristics of barely ordered dynamism and chaos that one perceives initially, melt imperceptibly into the appreciation of calm and noble form, silent and simple. As I see it, this principle contains the highest artistic quality." Andrey Tarkovsky.
Romadin's works have been exhibited in over 300 solo exhibitions worldwide. The works of Mikhail Romadin are in the collections of museums and private collections worldwide. To mention few: The State Tretyakov Gallery in Moscow, The Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago, Museum P. Ludwig Cologne, The Museum "Les Invalides" in Paris, The UNESCO Collection in Paris, The Cartier Foundation in Paris, The Palais des Nations Geneva, Collection of the University of Maryland, Washington, D.C., Zimmerli Art Museum New Jersey, The Museums of Texas Fort Worth and Texarkana, The Museum Checkpoint Charlie in Berlin) Museum Ludwig P., Budapest, The Museum of Contemporary Art Seville and private collections all over the world. His painting "The Indifferent Spectators" was gifted to UN in Geneva as a symbol of peace and was displayed for many years in the conference room on nuclear issues of the Palace of the UN in Geneva.
"ON THE MOVE" is a collaboration with Röthlisberger Collection
