Back with a PUNCH! In his latest solo exhibition at Fitzrovia Gallery London, artist Georg Meyer-Wiel presents new drawings on paper, exploring the subject of boxing and wrestling. Starting with a series of studies on historical documents, the exhibition explores masculinity through a rich variety of media. Georg explains more to Boyz and writer Errol Fuller looks forward to the exhibition.
Stepping into the ring: a detail from Georg’s immersive Squared Circle tableaux.
Georg Meyer-Wiel’s paintings and drawings are a direct physical and emotional response to the world that surrounds him. Since graduating from the Royal College of Art London he has worked as an artist. Major exhibitions have taken place at Hockney Gallery London, Henry Moore Gallery London, Michael Commerford Gallery Sydney and the Kunstmuseum Bonn, Germany.
Georg Meyer-Wiel told Boyz:
‘‘Movement has always inspired me. When observing the human body, I am mostly drawn to dancers and boxers.
Dance, being choreographed, celebrates the beauty of harmonious movement.
The culture of boxing can be traced back thousands of years, yet it still seems unpredictable, raw, archaic.
This allows me to fully apply my techniques and use of media to capture its energy, passion, violence, the fight, voyeurism and sexuality.’’
On show will be drawings on painted backgrounds created in multiple media.
Writer Errol Fuller looks forward to Georg Meyer-Wiel’s PUNCH exhibition:
‘‘Boxing. Is it a sport? Sort of. But really it is a matter of life and death!
Georg Meyer-Wiel’s pictures show this very directly, and in a way that is brutally honest and visually spectacular. With its potential for bright light shafting from utter darkness, with gloves coloured blood red, with enormous ferocity, with dancing, writhing bodies perfectly tuned to their optimum capacity and gleaming with sweat, and perhaps even with the slashing of the ropes stabbing like daggers across a canvas – boxing truly has the ingredients for art. All these factors are not only evident in Georg’s work, they are powerfully, sometimes quite viciously projected.
Many drawings are executed on historical documents, some dating back over 300 years.
As a young man I misspent many, many days and hours in the boxing gyms of south and east London, and at an even earlier age I would sometimes listen with my father in the early hours of the morning to radio broadcasts covering live fights in the USA. These evocative, so energetic paintings that can even be quite frightening, bring these times flooding powerfully back. They represent much of the reality so perfectly. For me, art is little if it doesn’t tap into memories. And these do!
The boxing ring is surely the loneliest ballroom!’’
Georg’s studio is in South London and can be visited by appointment.
The Life Studies: working with life models is an essential part of Georg’s work.
For more information on the PUNCH show and to view the exhibition catalogue please visit https://lifestudies.art – Georg’s website dedicated to the male form.
Georg Meyer-Wiel’s Solo Show PUNCH at the Fitzrovia Gallery runs from Tuesday 10th May until Sunday 15th May.
Online booking for private views is essential as visitor numbers will need to be limited.
For further enquiries and to register for private views, visit https://lifestudies.art/
Argentina: Arm wrestling and mixed media on historical envelope.
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