Nathan Ritterpusch is a New York artist currently based in Berlin. After running into each other at an opening for a summer group exhibit at Horton Gallery in Kreuzberg, I went to visit his studio in Prenzlauer Berg. He is currently working on a new series of paintings which will be exhibited in an forthcoming solo show in Dusseldorf at the Galerie Burkhard Eikelmann, Fall 2011. Focusing on the figure, specifically female in designated space, his paintings attempt to both understand and dissect the psyche. The results are at times melancholic and uncanny as the subjects languidly appear to contemplate life however uninterested by their own beauty. Using oil paint as his medium of choice on canvas he creates scenes that are both pulp noir and private moments made public.
In the last few years, Nathan has started to blur the surface of the canvas. The process is time consuming but is another way of investigating the body. However in eliminating the initial crispness of the figure, the blur establishes some emotional and even physical distance between the painting and the viewer. Rather then just painting portraits, he makes environments where his subjects seem to dwell, contemplate life and maybe even experience the occasional heartbreak….all the way from New York to Berlin.
Stay tuned!
Katy Diamond Hamer is an art blogger and artist based in Brooklyn, New York who was recently in Berlin to document the contemporary art scene. For more of her writing visit: http://eyes-towards-the-dove.blogspot.com
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