Greenberg Van Doren Gallery, St. Louis
Private Collection, New York
Christie's, New York, November 16, 2006, lot 335
Acquired at the above sale by the present owner
Kunstverein Lingen Kunsthalle, Martin Eder: Die Kalte Kraft, August 15 - October 10, 2004, pp. 91-93, 156 (illustrated)
• 1986
Martin Eder's disturbing oil paintings examine the interaction of beauty and ugliness and are
shown next to cute kittens and cuddly puppies, candid nudes in eerie, surreal encounters. In
an almost scientific way, Eder has devoted himself to this since the beginning of his career
exploring the illusory possibilities of painting and their meaning. Inspired by different streams
of art history, including baroque and surrealism, represent his paintings the sentimental, the
filthy, and the sublime side by side, forming the imagery of the classical History painting new.
Eder breaks the generally accepted notions of what "fine art" should be and undermines
conventional hierarchies of images and subjects. If you are looking for answers you are out of
place in Eder's cosmos. But one encounters a silent guest – the uncanny.
"Bodies are sold, they are abused, they are twisted, they are reinvented, they are drained, they
are dragged around, thrown into cavities and left alone, locked in wrong perceptions, full of
attitudes and fears. The spiritual part of it is, that your actions can only be controlled by a very
strong mind, which is your spirit." Martin Eder
Martin Eder is based in Berlin and graduated from HfBK Dresden in 2001.
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