Matthias Weischer (born 1973 in Rheine, Germany) is a contemporary painter working out of Leipzig, Germany. He is part of what is know as the Leipzig School, a group of German painters that have become very prominent in the international art scene in the past decade or so. Leipzig is located in East Germany; these artists began developing a distinctive style during the decades that East Germany was politically and socially separate from western Europe. While the rest of the European art world was emphasizing abstraction and conceptual work, painters in Leipzig continued to make figurative work. The result of this isolation developed an interesting, idiosyncratic group of artists working with surreal scenarios and spaces.
Egyptian Room. Oil, 2001
Automat. Oil, 2004
Weischer works less with the figure itself, and more with the space that figures occupy: domestic spaces. The spaces in Weischer's work are typically banal, and a bit outdated, spotted with the kind of common, mass-produced, and slightly retro decor and furnishings that could be in any home. This sense of familiarity combined with the emptiness of spaces creates both a nostalgic and an uneasy feeling. The subjects of his images are uncanny, a feeling which is heightened by his formal approach. Weischer walks an interesting line between representation and abstraction, using dizzying pattern, slightly "off" perspective, and liberal use of paint. I am most interested in the way that Weischer can create a completely convincing representational space, yet also equally assert the material of paint, and the physicality of his 2-D surface.
Der Ecke (The Corner). Oil, 2005
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