Sleeve by Gal Schindler
Blurb and collage by Gemma Janes
Including a printed essay by Anne Carson
Design by Lea Guillion
Limited Edition cover of 100
Publisher: New Directions
Language: English
Gal Schindler's illusive paintings feature shape-shifting figures, erotic female bodies, sea creatures, anemones, starfish and pearls held within oceans of colour.
In an interview with Emergent magazine she writes that for her, drawing is a portal to freedom. She plays with the fluidity of her materials -
"While the top layer of paint is still wet, I start. I like the ability to change, cover and re-work some areas in that sort of timeframe before the paint dries up and the image is ‘sealed’. I guess I’m trying to reach a balance with my ability to control and to stay open to the element of surprise.
Each work has a different rhythm, some can take weeks to become ‘resolved’ as the figure shape-shifts. I get excited when things go wrong and I’m forced to find new solutions."
Among her influences are many writers; Helene Cixous, especially The Laugh of the Medusa, Sylvia Plath (who's poem The Mirror influenced the name of one of her paintings 'terrible fish') and Anne Carson, specifically Putting her in Her Place which we may include within the package. She is also influenced by her father's anatomy books, and the pictures he texts her of flowers at her family home in Tel Aviv.
She has chosen to send a book by American writer Bernadette Mayer. The title is to be confirmed soon but will include a collection of her poems written in stream of consciousness and diary form - her first exhibit memory comprised of rolls of film that she shot each day during during July 1971 and her textual responses to the photos. Mayer also led a number of workshops at the Poetry Project at St Marks Church in NYC, attendees included Kathy Acker and John Giorno.
Mayer and Schindler share a common desire to capture the blurring, merging, softening borders and veneers of memory in their works.
"When I paint I don’t exactly depict a figure – it’s more about the visceral experience itself, of painting, of projecting, expanding. Therefore the figures exist more as an encounter, as a fleeting moment, a glitch."
When we sit together to discuss which book to send Gal pulls up the sculptures of Mayer's sister Rosemary - an American visual artist who was closely associated with the feminist art movement in the 1970s. She was a founding member of A.I.R. gallery, the first all-female artists cooperative gallery in the United States.
We cannot wait to explore these two artists with you over the coming months.
There will be a limited amount - and we are crossing our fingers that the postal system will work for us all this time. The rise in the cost is reflective of that - we tried very hard to keep it as low as possible - we are still working as a non-profit tiny team of passionate hand-wrappers but if you cannot afford the package please send us an email and we will see what we can do. There will also be the option to pick up the books at locations in London and Paris.
The package will include a book by Bernadette Mayer published by New Directions wrapped in a detachable sleeve designed by Gals Schindler. Expect additional content within the vessel.
Thanks!