Hubert Schmalix
Paintings
April 2 – May 14, 2005
The work of the Austrian-born artist Hubert Schmalix first became known in the early 1980’s grouped into what was commonly described as the Neue Wilde (New Wild). Discussed in terms of painting with a capital ’P,’ Schmalix’s paintings–along with those of Mosbacher, Bohatsch, Anzinger and others–were seen as an energized, expressive reaction to the dry, intellectual art climate of the late 1970’s that had decided painting was totally obsolete.
A long time Los Angeles resident, Schmalix, who moved to the city in 1987, continues to pursue painting’s big questions and its classic themes: landscapes, still lifes and nudes. His
Hubert Schmalix, Untitled. 2005, gouache on paper, 26.5 x 19 inches
paintings of his wife, Precy–who the artist has used a subject of his work for many years– are not just as a picture of someone. They are also an investigation into how paintings are made and an investigation into the practice of painting itself.
Schmalix’s recent solo exhibitions include Thomas Erben Gallery, New York; Krinzinger Gallery, Vienna; Kunstverein Frankfurt; Galerie Belvedere, Vienna; and the Museum Moderner Kunst, Vienna. Group exhibitions in the past two years include shows at the Rupertinum, Salzburg; the Neue Galerie Graz am Landesmuseum Joanneum, Graz; and the Sammlung Essl, Klosterneuburg.
