DUMONTEIL is pleased to present Nap, the solo exhibition of Ugo SCHILDGE at DUMONTEIL Contemporary Paris. The exhibition takes the afternoon dream as an opportunity to introduce surreal elements into the composition and narrative, thus bringing into focus the artist's recent research on nature and the human body. In several of his new works, Schildge also introduces a 'voyeuristic' perspective, presenting himself as an observer of various intimate scenes, allowing the real and the imagined to intertwine in the comfort of an afternoon nap.

Using natural pastels, wood, plaster, and concrete as his primary materials, Schildge's unique approach blurs the boundaries between painting and sculpture, canvas and medium, control and freedom, while giving the works an unparalleled texture and fluidity. And the methodical, deliberate thinking behind this technique contradicts and collides with the fragmented, rapid, and intuitive expressions presented in the dreamscape.

"The Nap" in Giverny refers to an intimate memory in dreamlike surrealism. . This is also the first time Schildge has used his own life as a point of departure for a composition inspired by the architectural structures of the Italian quattrocento, with its distorted perspectives and imaginary structures.

"The Dessert" evokes both the end of the picnic and the prospect of a carnal relationship between the characters who approach each other in a sensual embrace. We find the same mixture of architecture and vegetation that distorts the relationship to time and space.

"The Flowers of Evil" uses vegetation and architectural interiors to enclose the figures between the opposites of indoors and outdoors. The gradual invasion of flowers into the composition blurs our perception of time and space, suggesting the beginnings of sexuality and passion. The architectural interiors behind reveal the psychological and inner activities of the artist from a third perspective.

"The Great Wave" appropriates the giant waves from Katsushika Hokusai's The Great Wave off Kanagawa, overlays them with tropical island-inspired vegetation, camouflages various land and sea animals, and finally creates a magical ecological kaleidoscope with a rotating mechanical structure behind the panel.

"Suzanne" reinterprets the biblical story of "Susanna and the Old Man" (Daniel 13) from a contemporary point of view. Susanna is an iconic subject in the history of art, and the artist uses the 'voyeuristic' perspective of the lustful old man as a compositional lens to bring the viewer, who is looking at the work from the outside, into the narrative of the work.

This major exhibition at the Dumonteil Contemporary is the third solo show the gallery has held for Ugo Schildge. Click 'Read More' below to continue exploring the artist's natural and human landscapes composed of unique techniques and mixed media.