Martin Eder

Martin Eder’s wonderfully expressionistic Mascara, Dream Endlessly, is a visual chimera where nostalgia, Cartesian notions of alienation and camp coalesce. The expansive scale of the picture, coupled by the monumental proportion of the dog within the composition, engages a dialogue between the viewer and the dog, as the dog seems to be projected into the viewer’s space. The subject is the beloved Cavalier King Charles Spaniel, a dog breed favored for their playful and affectionate dispositions that crave human companionship and are eager to please. The pained and wistful gaze of the solitary dog suggests a longing. The austere background, painted in hues of the dog’s fur, echoes the dogs somber mood, a trait favored by the Romanticist painters of the late 18^th century. Distant crows, traditionally harbingers of gloom and death, circle ominously in the distance. Indeed, Eder himself has noted that “my work is about sadness.” (Exh. Cat., Kunstverein Lingen Kunsthalle, Martin Eder: Die Kalte Kraft, 2004, p.13)

Mascara, Dream Endlessly celebrates one of the most fundamental notions of kitsch. Parlaying the most debased notions of low brow art and animal portraiture, Eder's techinique recalls that of Jeff Koons, (figure 1).  Consequently, the artist's evocation of kitsch, camp, romanticsim and alienation situates the present painting within the most significant discourses of Contemporary Art.