Foley Gallery is pleased to present German artist Simon Schubert’s first solo New York exhibition, Multa Nocte.
The show’s namesake, Multa Nocte, means “deep in the night” or “deepest night” in Latin. Inspired and gravely influenced by the architecture related to Edgar Allan Poe, Schubert sources the author’s known residences as well as the storied descriptions of interiors and exteriors from his most well known writings, including The Fall of the House of Usher. The gallery will be set in a complete paper installation, with graphite paper and graphite pictures adorning the left wall and white, folded paper and folded pictures on the right wall.
Works created for the exhibition do not intend to be precise illustrations as much as they are a reflection of the mood of Poe’s tales and dark views of his historic residences. The exteriors are rendered in charcoal as if seen by night. They are often alight with a fire from within, sometimes out of control. The interiors, both meditative and haunting in white folded paper, embrace an exquisite elegance, while channeling Poe’s dark creepiness.
The style of Schubert’s interiors remain influenced by 19th Century Danish painter, Vilhelm Hammershoi, who employed low-key tones of grays to create a somber interior environment. Schubert works with similar tonalities, focusing on the scenes incoming natural window light and the shadows that play on his paper floors and walls. We step into these interiors both meditative and haunting, embracing their elegance while searching for meaning and our place in the world.
Simon Schubert (b. 1976) lives and works in Cologne, Germany. From 1997 to 2004 he trained at the Kunstakademie Dusseldorf in the sculpture class of Irmin Kamp. He is best known for creating intricate works by meticulously creasing a single sheet of paper into flattened images of real or imagined interiors. Typically grand, the ballrooms, coffered ceilings, stately staircases, mirrored corridors, and doorways he depicts are realistic yet illusory. Void of any human trace, they reflect notions of isolation, loneliness, and loss.
Multa Nocte will remain on view through October 18, 2015. Foley Gallery is open Wednesday – Sunday, 11 – 6pm. To request images, please contact the gallery at 212.244.9081 or info@foleygallery.com.