Monumental oil paintings at Armani Hotel Dubai

The Rhythm of Earth – Passage by Swiss artist J-Marc Schwaller

Under the patronage of H.E. Walter Deplazes, Charge d’Affaires, A.I.

Armani Hotel Dubai, located in Burj Khalifa, the world’s tallest building, in co-operation with Swiss Art Gate UAE, presents “The Rhythm of Earth – Passage” an art exhibition with works by Swiss artist, Jean-Marc Schwaller. The opening of the art exhibition will take place on Tuesday, June 5, 2012, 7 – 9pm at Armani/Ristorante, the hotel’s signature Italian restaurant, together with the Swiss artist and in the presence of H.E. Walter Deplazes, Charge d’Affaires, A.I.

Jean-Marc Schwaller’s exhibition of monumental oil paintings at Armani Hotel Dubai, follows the recent display in the Broadway Gallery New York. His paintings appear to be hewn and then smoothed as if with a knife but without the density of the material ever diminishing the translucency of his light. While for many the smaller pieces may prove to be ‘easier’ than the spaces of the larger paintings – and the artist does exhibit a series of smaller watercolours – he is at ease with himself when he can give unbridled rein to the freedom and the poetic spirit within him.

J-Marc Schwaller’s work finds its predecessors in the work of Mark Rothko and Barnett Newman. Much like these modern masters, his motifs explore the compositional potential of colour and form on the human psyche.

J-Marc’s work is bold and vivacious. He employs a gestural mark against saturated colour fields, creating a luminous intensity that pulsates in front of the viewer. Using thin, seamless glazes contrasted with thick impastoed marks, his work stands out among his contemporaries. His work is sublime and emotionally contemplative. But most of all, they are some of the most moving paintings one can see. Moving, aptly describes the sensuous surfaces that seem to emanate light from within and project light as well. This quality is most noticeable in his process. His process allows for addition and subtraction, erasure and palimpsest, uniquely curtailing the crevices that arise. This feverish attention to the overall effect of the work is a direct result of an existential yearning for communion with the natural world.

J-Marc Schwaller said about his recent work: “I start off with a concrete idea, for example “water gardens,” where I find the idea of reflection, of vegetation. I then paint the essence of the image in a grand gesture on the body of the canvas, all of which is connected like a web, combining colour, light and energy. I work on the ground and paint with my whole body. The iridescence that emanates from my paintings depends on the colour and gesture.

What I seek in painting is colour and light. The light of a table will be more intense if it is contrasted with darker tones.

I don’t want the viewer to feel the “effort” or “difficulty” of the painting technique, rather I want it all to blend, giving the impression that it all came together in one motion. The colour and movement are inseparable elements in the structure of the piece.