| Michael Raedecker |
postmedia.net 1999 |
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These embroidery nodes go way
beyond any discussions of thread's sex. They act as
ontological focal points. Michael Raedecker uses
materials as if to generate a classification system or
hierarchies of reality; stirred paint for rocks, wool for
mountains and curtains and large plants, cotton for
shadows. But they spill into each other and break down
and anyway suggest a model which is internally
meaningless. In contrast to the undifferentiated mass of
paint, thread is less solid (a standard unit only so
thick) but weirdly actual. The curtains are painstakingly
built up from different thickness of wools and cotton (in
graded tones of red,brown and green yellow), and the
shag-pile rug is bobbled with milky pink-brown knots. It
is what they would be made from in the world. But the
apparent aptness of using wool or cotton only serves to
underline the illusion. Equally one of the fascinations
of creative embroidery, flower arranging or pasta collage
is perverse substitution - such as using chopped eggs as
rally wings in edible woodland scenes. Paint is as
perverse but more familiar. Michael Raedecker mingles
inappropriate stuff. He uses preposterous techniques
(laying wool in patterns and then pulling it from the
half dried paint) and decorative flourishes (leaves run
through with gold thread like a trouser suit trim). He
delights in restrained concentrations of dankness. |
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| Raedecker's images of empty interiors,
landscapes, exteriors of Americanesque bungalows and
simple portraits evoke powerful memories of a certain
kind of American film. They often radiate a slightly unheimische
mood, which undoubtedly has to do with the fact that
in these paintings the human figure is completely absent.
The very precise framing of the image also has a
cinematic quality about it, with positions and cut-outs
varying from long shot and interior shot to close-up. In
addition, Raedecker frequently presents his paintings in
a cinematic sequence, giving you the impression that
you're looking at fragments of a story without having
grasped the plot. Raedecker's paintings play a game of taking out and leaving in. On the one hand they are empty, almost schematic images created from just a few lines, a few visual fragments. On the other hand they have something archetypical, almost familiar about them. One way Raedecker achieves this effect is by building his images out of very carefully executed details, contrary to the apparent schematic character of the work. His paintings are also characterised by an unusual use of materials: threads and embroidery in combination with very thinly applied paint or paint 'poured out' in thick globs. Finally, Raedecker's extraordinary use of colour - cool greys, icy blues and dull green tints, colours you'd sooner expect to see in Scandinavian landscapes turns it all into a unique, individual painting style. Recent works such as kismet and mirage show a freer pictorial language. It's a pictorial language in which he not only makes use of cinematic images but just as easily uses computer manipulated images that we know from advertisements and other media without losing sight of his search for pure painting. Jan Debbaut |
Michael
Raedecker "pinch", 1998 |
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