When Jonathan Hawkins and Paolo Martini the owners and artistic directors of The Crown and Anchor in Provincetown. were in London recently they made an important discovery. There in the prestigious Fitzrovia Gallery was a solo exhibition of the work of London-based queer German artist Georg Meyer Wiel.
Over two decades ago Meyer-Wiel relocated from the Rhine to London and as an artist and designer, he works in multimedia including painting, drawing design for costume and stage. For the London show entitled RIVERMAN Meyer-Wiel was showing a new body of works on paper and canvas, depicting the male figure along waterways. His latest paintings reveal man as a small part of a much larger ‘picture’ referencing his elemental collectedness to water and the natural world.
The work really impressed Hawkins and Martini so much that on the spot they issued an invitation for Meyer Wiel to have a solo show at The Gallery at The Crown and Anchor
Fast forward two months and Meyer Weil is now on the verge of opening his new show AIRMILES a brand new body of works on paper, exploring the male figure. Starting with a series of portraits on vintage airmail letters, the exhibition explores multiple facets of masculinity through a rich variety of media.
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Having studied graphic design, Meyer Wiel has developed a habit of collecting ephemera, and many of his figurative drawings are executed on original antique envelopes and other historical documents, some of which date back 300 years.
The subject of traveling creates unique narratives by placing the figures in times and places that actually once existed, in a world now long lost. These artworks invite us to travel the world and map out long-forgotten journeys and relations.
For Meyer-Wiel the fluidity of drawing lends itself to an accurate recording of bodies in performance, his examination of a transient moment is an intimate dialogue.
‘’As a gay man I often wonder what life must have been like over the past centuries, without the rights that large parts of today’s world enjoy and take for granted. When working with life models and portraying them on historical documents, I transport my protagonists into the distant past, where they could not have had the life they live today.
Many of my drawings also reference today’s dress-codes and body culture and I especially like to use documents from countries that until now do not accept and punish homosexuality, as this creates a strong juxtaposition when they are used as context for homoerotic drawings.’’ Georg Meyer-Wiel
‘’Georg Meyer Wiel creates theatrical images of a mythical nature. What impresses is the sheer delight in the action of painting. Meyer-Wiel has orchestrated his own hues to reflect the secret soul. Can you paint a soul? He can...’’ Robin Dutt. Author, Curator
’Georg Meyer-Wiel's drawing is a never-ending, constantly updated\work in progress, intensely personal, executed with graphic haste in the heat of the moment... They present, in public, a private truth. Seen one by one, they offer us brief encounters of a very masculine immediacy, finding tenderness in the raunchiest of beauties; seenas a series, they initiate a charged conversation with the viewer.’’ Neil Bartlett. Author, Director
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THE AIRMALES Georg Meyer-Wiel The Gallery At The Crown and SAnchor Until 08/20 : Private View 07/21
