Stephan Melzl

This is the sixth solo exhibition of Stephan Melzl at the Thomas Rehbein Gallery.

Deception and staging, reflections and morbid fragility. In his distinctive painting style, Melzl merges baroque stylistic features with contemporary impulses, resulting in dreamlike surreal worlds that exude a disquieting stillness. His meticulously crafted compositions reflect a thoughtful engagement with tradition.

Stephan Melzl's paintings do not claim to tell stories; rather, they express inner states and fantasies, as well as a peculiar melancholy. In simply rendered pictorial spaces, contemporary figures lead a mysterious existence.

The lighting enhances the enigmatic effect emanating from his works. Adolescent protagonists, partially undressed and of slight build, stand slightly elevated, resembling a small pedestal, on a scale. Looking down, they read their body weight.

This is a situation commonly associated with a private bathroom. However, the starkly designed spaces feel anything but cozy; they resemble theatrical or even museum-like settings. They become a projection surface for the youthful process of identity formation, intertwined with self-doubt and loneliness, while also alluding to themes of eroticism and voyeurism. The initial feeling of awkwardness due to the immediate nudity of the figures is quickly counterbalanced by an expression of childlike carefree-ness and the often humorous character inherent in the scenes. For instance, a small naked girl, with innocent nonchalance and a natural presence, mimics a male action—urinating while standing—using a can of cola.

The charming depiction of a female nude on canvas also possesses a subtly erotic aura.

Mostly cropped at the edges, the subject of the painting is only fully revealed through the reflection of the overtly referenced classical nymph theme on the three smartphones positioned on the floor in the center and foreground of the image. The image within the image is a recurring stylistic device in Stephan Melzl's works. With this technique, he introduces another layer of imagery, creating space for reflection.

(Miriam Walgate, 2014)