Endless street canyons, nested skyscrapers, lights that fade into the depths: the cities in Pascal Schwendener's paintings feel like fragments of a dream. And yet they seem astonishingly believable.
Cities of the Future
In Grand City Canyon, Pascal Schwendener presents large-format paintings in which he explores the city and its future. Enchanted, luminous cityscapes, nested, multidimensional high-rises and endless street canyons combine into scenes that could not possibly exist. Therein lies their appeal: Schwendener builds his cities as believable constructs with perfect internal proportions, using them to depict unbelievable scenes. The eye follows the vanishing lines, finds footholds in the details, and yet loses itself again and again in the depths of the image.
The Installation
The exhibition is rounded off by an extensive installation in which Pascal Schwendener translates the theme of the urban landscape into space.
An Exceptional Talent
Born in Locarno in 1988, the Swiss artist came to Düsseldorf at the age of 17, making him one of the youngest students ever admitted to the Kunstakademie. He is currently studying in Peter Doig's class. Following Ich in 2010, Grand City Canyon is already his second solo exhibition at Pretty Portal. Back then, a single work depicted a cityscape; now the city takes centre stage. Anyone who sees Pascal Schwendener at work senses an almost obsessive devotion to art. He develops his visual worlds with great meticulousness, line by line, window by window, until countless details add up to an entire city. For us, he is one of the most exceptional young talents we have ever met, and we are very curious to see where his path will take him.
"Grand City Canyon"
Pascal Schwendener
Opening
Friday, 17 February 2012, 7 – 11 pm
Exhibition
17 February – 2 March 2012
Pretty Portal
Brunnenstraße 12
40223 Düsseldorf
Note (2026): Pascal Schwendener now works under the name Pascal Sender. After graduating in 2013 as a master student (Meisterschüler) of Peter Doig, he studied at the Royal Academy Schools in London from 2018 to 2022. His work has since been shown by galleries including König Galerie in Berlin and Saatchi Yates in London.
