Alexander Basil. The week stretching out in front of you

11.10.2022 - 12.11.2022

Galerie Kandlhofer, Wien / Österreich

Alexander Basil’s latest exhibition ‘The week stretching out in front of you’ presents a new body of work continuing Basil’s exploration of personal perception and our comprehension of our own psychology through an exploration of the domestic environment. Predominantly focussing on an abstracted form of self portraiture within various iterations of the domestic space, the objects and mis-en-scene depicted in the compositions explore a form of intimidation of the domestic setting, with laptops, computer games, bedrooms and cleaning equipment creating the antithesis of a mythologized artistic studio context and instead transcend into a more pervasive and relatable comment on the relationship to ones environment....

For these introspective compositions, Basil oftentimes employs the use of multiple self-portraits into a variety of narrative characters and anthropomorphised objects that explore varying reflections on the self. The figures often interact with one another creating a dissected depiction of the interior psychology that explores introspection and isolation charged with an ironic humour. The sense of scale within Basil’s works is of particular importance with the figures sometimes taking an exaggeratedly enlarged or minimised size in comparison to the interiors and each other. In this regard, the environments exert an influence on the character of the portraits that alters between overpowering and sheltering. Figures that are more shapeless seem to melt and integrate into objects and furniture with their function ultimately lost. At other points larger figures surround smaller interior layouts, unable to fit into the scene, while some smaller figures appear to deliberately camouflage themselves as objects with suggestive facial expressions as if to challenge the viewer to spot them.

[Quelle: https://web.archive.org/web/20221109112357/https://www.kandlhofer.com/exhibitions/119-alexander-basil-the-week-stretching-out-in/]