Patrick Tschudi

Over the last years, Patrick Tschudi has been exploring the possibilities of new media to support the development of his work. He uses photography as his foundation, and turns the original images, taken from a bird’s eye view or directly above, into reduced, pictogram-like paintings. The artist appropriates the anthropomorphic icons from urban signage and presents them as the central characters of his work. A beach image, for example, is elucidated by parasols and other vacation accessories. The stretches of water and beach are also recognizable, but the people appear as typified figures. The supposed snapshots now tell of a stereotyped world without individual characteristics. Despite this rigorous obfuscation, the observer will attempt to give individuality back to the homogenized illustrations. For all the distortion, we still believe we are able to distinguish between the individual people through their posture, clothing style, and age. Despite the dissolution into abstract areas of color and shapes, we search for the unmistakable, comparing Tschudi’s pictures with our own life experiences. Yet the paintings keep their secret, alternating between cheerful, vibrant colorfulness and curiously powerful disconcertment.