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Gal Schindler:Rivers Don’t Know Where The Borders Go
Gal Schindler:Rivers Don’t Know Where The Borders Go
2023
Oil on canvas
31 1/2 x 47 1/4 inches
Gal Schindler’s paintings play with a spectrum of visibility, clarity and abstraction. The gestural green line that stretches across the canvas in Rivers Don’t Know Where The Borders Go alludes to the river in the painting’s title, but otherwise gives no clear signifiers, while in the top right hand corner the crab is more precisely rendered. The painting centres on a reclining female figure, resting in a bright and cool unknown space. The subject’s expression is ambiguous, as is often the case with Schindler’s figures who may appear monstrous or wicked, yet remain enticing and mystical.
The artist is particularly interested in the idea of subtraction and negative space when creating the initial outline of a work and approaching the surface of her paintings. She explores the duality of the transparency of the figure that simultaneously dissolves into the canvas but also floats on the surface of this undefined space. This is amplified by Schindler’s use of a limited colour palette which lends cohesion to the composition but also blurs its spatial boundaries. Despite this ambiguity, the figure occupies the space of the painting, as the artist states, ‘they claim their territory within the ‘lack’ and look the viewer in the eye.’
B. Israel1993
Biography
Gal Schindler’s figural paintings explore the duality of absence and presence. Using a limited palette in each work, Schindler’s figures simultaneously meld with and stand apart from their surroundings. Within this ambiguous arena, the artist explores ideas of subtraction, negative space and the multiple possibilities of expression for her figures.
Schindler (b. 1993) graduated from the Slade School of Fine Art in 2019 before receiving an MA in painting from the Royal College of Art in 2021. Her work has been exhibited in France, the United Kingdom, Israel, South Korea and the United States. Schindler’s work has been featured in Elephant magazine and émergent magazine among others and is held in the collections of The Perimeter, London and Fundación Medianoche0, Spain.