Myths - Heimo Schmidt

[luckyme]

softgrey and myself had the opportunity to see this photographers recent exhibit at Point of View gallery in NYC. these are really worth seeing up close and personal.

Point of View Gallery is proud to present Myths, by Heimo Schmidt. The artist’s first solo exhibition offers a contemporary visual reinterpretation of Icelandic culture’s ancient mythology and epic Norse tales known as the “Sagas.” The show features prints made in Iceland between 2001 and 2004 (as well as a short film).
To create this body of work, Schmidt observed and documented the brilliant light, dramatic climate, and primordial natural landscape of Iceland. Set amidst this stunning environment, his lush, primarily figurative-driven narratives derive from the country’s traditional folklore, but are re-imagined through the artist’s unique aesthetic sensibility. Schmidt’s meticulously choreographed, highly stylized imagery simultaneously conveys a distinct locality and a sense of timelessness, merging traditions of portrait and landscape photography, past and present, history and fiction, the organic and artificial.
Schmidt invites the viewer to share the discovery of this iconic place and its rich tradition of storytelling, mythology, and history through the prism of postmodernism. Inspired by Iceland’s scenery and intrigued by the unique mythology, Schmidt has created a series of photographs that speaks to the culture’s intensely spiritual conception of nature. “The landscape of Iceland in classic folklore is a sacred place,” Schmidt says. “So that no matter where you go, you are in a sense in accord with the universe.”
In one of the photographs, Burial of Unn, Schmidt bases the narrative around the myth known as The Saga of Unn. In another photograph, aman and a woman sit in a chair facing the camera asSchmidt pays homage to Frida Kahlo’s Two Fridas, by having the models mimic the same memorable positioning. Schmidt explains: “Certain images are nods to great artists of the past, which is part of a classic tradition of reinventing other people’s myths.” His work both acknowledges and extends the ancient myth tradition while pushing it forward with his own contemporary imaginings.
The presentation is completed by a 6 minute short film (shot on super 16) entitled, Green Grass of Tunnel. The film was also shot in Iceland and retells another of the classic myths: Death and rebirth (reincarnation).
Schmidt, born in Austria, moved with his family to the United States when he was 6 years old. He obtained a bachelor of fine arts degree in photography and has worked as a commercial photographer for the past 20 years. His images have appeared in numerous publications including American Photography, Communication Arts, Vision, Archive, Graphis, Photo District News, and See Magazine. Schmidt’s photographic and film work has been included in group exhibitions worldwide, including recently PX3 in Paris and the Museum of Applied Arts Cologne. His short film Green Grass of Tunnel was recently awarded a bronze medal in the San Francisco International Shorts festival and was featured in the Das Arts Festival in the Netherlands. Schmidt lives and works in the San Francisco Bay Area with his wife and collaborator Kara Wetherby.

© heimo schmidt

 

[oceanharlot]

meh.