28 Jan 2019

Markus Rey

Galerie am Lindenhof

Reviewed by Heather Kapplow

Markus Rey's work is a series of large, square, hyper-realistic still lives called, simply, "Things." Each "thing," painted in acrylic on pressboard, has a number for a title. Its subject matter sits on a pedestal in front of the painting, perhaps for comparison

Sometimes the subject is playful. Paintings depict marbles, Looney Tunes figurines, and gummy bears. And other times, it's more pragmatic. A lemon slice, a spent light bulb, some bread and water, and two cigarette butts also get immortalized. In each case, the paintings transcend the "things," often distorting their scale in a way that feels amorphously metaphorical, like the way a stubbed toe momentarily becomes more important than other body parts.

The story here is the stillness of the still life, which becomes a brush-based meditation practice that can take anything as its subject matter. This interpretation is borne out by a simulation of a Japanese-style seal that Rey paints onto each image, reading "here and now."