Many of what are now public museums were once the private homes and collections of the wealthy and titled. From the Palace of Aranjuez – still a royal residence in Spain – to the Baroque art and gardens of Isola Bella in Italy, Gretchen Scherer captures beautiful salon-style galleries and historic interiors in vibrant, intricately detailed paintings (formerly).
In her solo exhibition Looking for an exit bee Monya Rowe GalleryScherer continues to explore art historical destinations around the world. She appeals to memory, escapism and the romance of grand buildings and transforms graceful halls, salons and wonder chambers in inviting, enlivened spaces.
Scherer references photographs of museums, sometimes reimagining historic, black-and-white images into colorful compositions, such as the 1914 dining room in the Trubetskoy Palace, Moscow.
The works lining the room include the holdings of Sergei Skchukin, a Russian businessman, whose art collection was nationalized after the Bolshevik uprising of 1917. Nowadays these pieces are distributed among state museums.
Scherer’s paintings welcome us to remarkable places around the world, many of which we may no longer be able to visit. Through intimate details, such as a napkin draped over the edge of a table or a chair pulled out as if someone has just left, the artist draws primarily on the identity of each location as an inhabited place.
Looking for an exit opens today and runs through November 23. Find more information about the artist website And Instagram.
