The Snow King - Strychnin Gallery
Preview by Lizzie Guilfoyle
THE Strychnin Gallery is presenting French visual artist Chris von Steiner’s first London solo show, The Snow King – from February 15 to March 10, 2008.
Using his fantasies, dreams and desires, von Steiner creates digital fairytales out of the stories he grew up with, stories that have since turned into eerie tales of passion, fear, loneliness, pride, innocence and hope.
Combining the pop icons of his youth with bold colours, elements from movies, music, books and television, his digital paintings have a haunting familiarity even at first glance. Like a pop song touching the heart and sticking in the mind, von Steiner’s works invade the memory and stir up tales to get lost in.
Von Steiner’s new series of work entitled The Snow King takes viewers to an icy kingdom where visions of childhood dreams and nightmares, brotherhood, family ties, loyalty and betrayal abound.
The story told in these images is hard to make out – which of the characters can be trusted? Who is good and who is evil? Set in a cold winter wonderland, the Queen is holding her dead son, two brothers are close but one is silenced, a stag is prancing through the snow…..the rest is left to imagination.
Chris von Steiner has exhibited all over Europe and the USA.
Strychnin Gallery London, 65 Hanbury Street, London, E1 5JP.
Times: Friday to Sunday – 12 noon to 6pm.
For more information visit the website.