Erik Schmidt
Erik Schmidt is a German painter and polyhedric artist based in Berlin.
Born in Herford in 1968, at the age of 21 he moves to Hamburg, where he begins to explore illustration, painting and the nightlife scene, combining them into a subversive creative output.
It is when he moves to Berlin to assist visual artist Piotr Nathan — after graduating from the Hochschule für Angewandte Wissenschaften Hamburg — that he develops a more complex artistic language. Within a few years Erik begins to make a name for himself worldwide and is represented by galleries such as the current Carlier Gebauer and Krinzinger.
From this period (2001 – 2004) are some of the works shown in the exhibition curated by Pier Paolo Pancotto at SECCI Firenze, such as the Berlin urban views that somehow echo Pointillism and the video “Parking” shot by Stephanie Kloss.
These ones set the grounds for understanding how his body of work has morphed over two decades. In fact, the main part of the exhibition features a selection from his most recent pictorial series, in which the canvases are printed with photographs of places he visits and people he meets, then overpainted with thick impasto brushstrokes: Palm Bombs (2022 – 2023), based on large-scale bottom up views of palm trees from Sri Lanka, as well as urban scenes from New York City (2023), that include voyeur-like portraits of people passing by the streets and a cityscape.
The exhibition perfectly embodies how Erik Schmidt’s style has evolved to a new level and is on view from 16th September to 4th November in SECCI Gallery.
Erik Schmidt is a German painter and polyhedric artist based in Berlin.
Born in Herford in 1968, at the age of 21 he moves to Hamburg, where he begins to explore illustration, painting and the nightlife scene, combining them into a subversive creative output.
It is when he moves to Berlin to assist visual artist Piotr Nathan — after graduating from the Hochschule für Angewandte Wissenschaften Hamburg — that he develops a more complex artistic language. Within a few years Erik begins to make a name for himself worldwide and is represented by galleries such as the current Carlier Gebauer and Krinzinger.
From this period (2001 – 2004) are some of the works shown in the exhibition curated by Pier Paolo Pancotto at SECCI Firenze, such as the Berlin urban views that somehow echo Pointillism and the video “Parking” shot by Stephanie Kloss.
These ones set the grounds for understanding how his body of work has morphed over two decades. In fact, the main part of the exhibition features a selection from his most recent pictorial series, in which the canvases are printed with photographs of places he visits and people he meets, then overpainted with thick impasto brushstrokes: Palm Bombs (2022 – 2023), based on large-scale bottom up views of palm trees from Sri Lanka, as well as urban scenes from New York City (2023), that include voyeur-like portraits of people passing by the streets and a cityscape.
The exhibition perfectly embodies how Erik Schmidt’s style has evolved to a new level and is on view from 16th September to 4th November in SECCI Gallery.
- Erik Schmidt
