Julian Schnabel

Pace is honoured to present Julian Schnabel: The re-use of 2017 by 2018. The re-use of Christmas, birthdays. The re-use of a joke. The re-use of air and water. This is the first solo presentation by the artist at Pace in London. The exhibition features twelve recent paintings using imagery and an approach to painting that the artist has refined throughout his career.

Schnabel’s inspiration for the series originates from twelve calendar prints published by John & Josiah Boydell and made by Royal Academy artists William Hamilton (1751–1801) and Francesco Bartolozzi (1727–1815), whose names appear at the bottom of each image. Discovered by Schnabel in a second-hand store in New York City, the original engraved images feature agricultural scenes that depict the seasonal activities of rural England for each month.

After enlarging these scenes onto polyester, he painted on them, establishing a new view - new picture without losing the first - suggesting the multiplicity of vision, of awareness, of every moment. He opens a conflict that plays out in front of the viewer. “The prints are reinterpreted just as all yesterdays and todays are”,Schnabel stated.