Louis Eisner
Trees
Galerie Pepe is pleased to present Trees an exhibition of new works by artist Louis Eisner (b. 1988, Los Angeles, CA). September 19th - December 7th, 2024
A locus of artistic activity in the second quarter of the nineteenth century, the Forest of Fontainebleau--and in particular the small town of Barbizon that lay within it--was home and muse to dozens of plein-air painters. Comprising forty thousand acres, the forest was crisscrossed by footpaths and horse tracks and dotted with ancient oaks and anthropomorphic boulders christened with heroic and fanciful monikers. In 1849 a new railroad line brought the forest within easy reach of bourgeois Parisians seeking a natural setting for picnics, promenades, and artistic inspiration. At the same time Olmsted’s plan for New York City’s Central Park, a simulation of an ‘original’ forest, was being approved and would serve as a respite for a rapidly growing city.
In Trees Eisner plays with perspective, subtly adjusting the elements within his compositions to heighten the poetic tension between light and shadow with branches silhouetted against a luminous winter sky, recalling Alfred Robaut’s description of Corot’s work as a "spider’s web." Such sylvan motifs, seen in Eisner’s practice, invite viewers to engage with nature in a way that transcends simple representation. Much like the pre-Impressionist painters who found solace in the Forest of Fontainebleau, Eisner’s work also explores nature as both a refuge and a source of creative inspiration. His treatment of light and texture, reminiscent of Le Gray’s pioneering photography, focuses not on precise detail but on an emotive, sensuous rendering of the environment. Eisner’s paintings weave together the vegetation of the forest floor, the lichen-covered rocks, the gnarled oaks, light, and air into complex tapestries that blur the boundaries between solid form and empty space.
Wherever one casts an eye upon Eisner’s exhibition, space seems to extend in opposite directions never demanding focus. Furthermore, the large format paintings in the show are generally intended to be seen, as murals are, from a more distant vantage point than an easel painting would be seen; sharply indicated details get lost. Broad, open, suggestive brushwork is more convincing. The thick, irregular ridges of Eisner’s broken brushstrokes catch the light in the rooms where his paintings are displayed and thus contribute to the paintings' effects.
A locus of artistic activity in the second quarter of the nineteenth century, the Forest of Fontainebleau--and in particular the small town of Barbizon that lay within it--was home and muse to dozens of plein-air painters. Comprising forty thousand acres, the forest was crisscrossed by footpaths and horse tracks and dotted with ancient oaks and anthropomorphic boulders christened with heroic and fanciful monikers. In 1849 a new railroad line brought the forest within easy reach of bourgeois Parisians seeking a natural setting for picnics, promenades, and artistic inspiration. At the same time Olmsted’s plan for New York City’s Central Park, a simulation of an ‘original’ forest, was being approved and would serve as a respite for a rapidly growing city.
In Trees Eisner plays with perspective, subtly adjusting the elements within his compositions to heighten the poetic tension between light and shadow with branches silhouetted against a luminous winter sky, recalling Alfred Robaut’s description of Corot’s work as a "spider’s web." Such sylvan motifs, seen in Eisner’s practice, invite viewers to engage with nature in a way that transcends simple representation. Much like the pre-Impressionist painters who found solace in the Forest of Fontainebleau, Eisner’s work also explores nature as both a refuge and a source of creative inspiration. His treatment of light and texture, reminiscent of Le Gray’s pioneering photography, focuses not on precise detail but on an emotive, sensuous rendering of the environment. Eisner’s paintings weave together the vegetation of the forest floor, the lichen-covered rocks, the gnarled oaks, light, and air into complex tapestries that blur the boundaries between solid form and empty space.
Wherever one casts an eye upon Eisner’s exhibition, space seems to extend in opposite directions never demanding focus. Furthermore, the large format paintings in the show are generally intended to be seen, as murals are, from a more distant vantage point than an easel painting would be seen; sharply indicated details get lost. Broad, open, suggestive brushwork is more convincing. The thick, irregular ridges of Eisner’s broken brushstrokes catch the light in the rooms where his paintings are displayed and thus contribute to the paintings' effects.
Louis Eisner, care.deeply.mirror, 2024, oil on canvas, 181.6 cm x 233.7 cm, 71 1/2 x 92 x 1 1/2 in, Frame: 192.3 x 244.5 x 7.5 cm
Louis Eisner, mile.finger.token, 2024, oil on canvas, 181.6 cm x 233.7 cm, 71 1/2 x 92 x 1 1/2 in, Frame: 192.3 x 244.5 x 7.5 cm
Louis Eisner, misty.answer.cheek, 2024, oil on canvas, 181.6 cm x 233.7 cm, 71 1/2 x 92 x 1 1/2 in, Frame: 192.3 x 244.5 x 7.5 cm
Louis Eisner, rats.regard.quick, 2024, oil on canvas, 181.6 cm x 233.7 cm, 71 1/2 x 92 x 1 1/2 in, Frame: 192.3 x 244.5 x 7.5 cm
Louis Eisner, retire.gentle.dirt, 2024, oil on canvas, 181.6 cm x 233.7 cm, 71 1/2 x 92 x 1 1/2 in, Frame: 192.3 x 244.5 x 7.5 cm
Louis Eisner, Étude, 2024, oil on canvas, 51 x 40.6 x 2 cm, 20 1/8 x 16 x 3/4 in, Frame: 61.8 x 51.5 x 7.5 cm
Louis Eisner, Untitled, 2024, Set of 9 bronze leafs, drawings, dimensions variable
Louis Eisner lives and works in New York City. Recent solo shows include Persona Non-Grata, Winter Street Gallery, Martha’s Vineyard; Leaving Cheyenne, Fitzpatrick Gallery, Paris. Selected group exhibitions: Yours Truly, Nahmad Contemporary, New York; Everyone Loves Picabia, David Lewis Gallery, New York; The American Baroque, Sebastian Gladstone, Los Angeles; Arcadia and Elsewhere, James Cohan, New York.
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