Michael Raedecker

Raedecker’s paintings are characterised by a sophisticated and exquisite use of threads and embroideries in combination with paint, which is sometimes very thinly applied and sometimes ‘poured’ thickly on to the canvas. But the main feature of his paintings is their unusual visual vocabulary, which at the same time seems very familiar. Landscapes, the exteriors of bungalows, interiors and the occasional portrait form the subjects of his work. People, or even traces of a human presence, are absent. Yet one senses their presence. Is it perhaps the precise framing of the images that gives one the feeling that the empty exteriors and interiors are being seen through human eyes? Or is it one’s own gaze that attaches itself to the images that look so familiar?…

ins and outs is a sublime dream home. Steely grey in the dead of night, manicured in the expansive landscape, trees in a straight line, boulders placed decoratively for maximum effect: it might be the retirement retreat of a Silicone Valley millionaire, the kind of person who would bother to have their trees pruned into perfect orbs, who’d insist that their sky be as delicate as a Japanese watercolour. Michael Raedecker’s paintings are always little seeds of gossip. Drawn to this house by the impossible intensity of the light – made up of countless tiny pink and yellow threads – the first instinct is that something suspicious is happening within…

Exhibition

Turner Prize