Jan Schmelcher

Young Men Are Easy Prey

Notting Hill Arts Cub Arts Club is proud to present a new solo show by German artist Jan Schmelcher, 'Young Men Are Easy Prey'. Through painting and illustration, Schmelcher explores notions of masculinity, machismo, 'nerdismo' and 'deadpan bullshit.' Nostalgia is very important, as well. 'There is always a struggle between narration and negating narration. 'I'm not interested in telling a story. But I want to leave some hints, citations, text fragments, throw out some bait to reel the fish in.'

The oval paintings from the 'Haddock' series all feature the same character: Schmelcher's version of Tintin's sidekick Captain Haddock, of Hergés comic-strip masterpieces. Haddock is the joker, the holy fool. 'Haddock is Neal Cassidy hitchhiking from New York to San Francisco in the dead of winter, broken-boned thumb stretched out, shivering in a summer coat. Haddock is Pierre Loti looking for the patterns of the Maghreb and the almond eyes of Northern Africa. Rimbaud in Harare, squinting into the sun, forgetting all about his former self.'

The larger works were painted in London in May. They are painted on torn-down advertising posters ripped from the wall of a tunnel beneath Elephant & Castle station. Schmelcher is nostalgic for the days when advertisers would commission painters and illustrators rather than the over-produced 'ugly' photographs so ubiquitous in urban environments. 'They are just advertisements I would have liked to paint,' he says. In reworking the glossy images, Schmelcher creates new fragmented narratives dealing with themes of exoticism, cultural mythologies and failed utopias. Taking from eclectic references and implementing the diverse languages of comic illustration, folk art, outsider art and classic posters from the thirties to the fifties, Schmelcher creates imagined scenes that are poetic and sincere, but with a cutting, ironic edge. 'I put everything into a blender, mash it up and drink the milkshake. It feels cold as it runs down my throat.'

For additional info and images please see:
www.janillustration.blogspot.com
www.janpainting.blogspot.com
www.thedoctorshoots.blogspot.com