Umeå Academy of Fine Arts alumnus opens exhibition in Berlin
NEWS
Emil Holmer, a 2002 Umeå Academy of Fine Arts graduate, presents a solo exhibition of paintings titled "Dead Letters" at Gallerie Michael Janssen in Berlin, Germany. The exhibition runs from 12 March until 24 April.
Emil Holmer earned a master's in fine arts at Umeå Academy of Fine Arts and attended the U.D.K. in Berlin, where he was a guest student in the class of the British sculptor Tony Cragg. In recent years, Holmer had solo exhibitions in Australia, South Africa and Europe.
Emil Holmer’s paintings are cathartic explosions; axes, spears, wood constructions, body parts as well as abstract geometric forms and amorphous shapes that seem to be exploding like fireworks on the canvas or are simply collected like debris after an apocalyptic video game war. Holmer’s works are Graffit-like and inspired by avant-garde movement COBRA, whose primary focus consisted of semi-abstract paintings with brilliant colour, violent brushwork and distorted human figures.
The large format paintings are violent image symphonies, in which the densityinherent in every depicted scene creates a blur, straining the viewer’s eyes. Drawing on such areas as psychopathology, fear, power, sexuality and thebody, Emil Holmer is strongly influenced by pop culture, midway between the horror film and the comic strip.
