Leonhard Hurzlmeier

DRYING BATHER

2016
oil on canvas
47 x 31 1/2 inches

Distilling the female form down to his simplified geometric language of curves, Munich artist Leonhard Hurzlmeier playfully depicts women in everyday tasks. The women are shown in stages of undress as they floss, eat noodles, clean, or – as seen in this work – towel off after swimming. A favorite subject of artists like Degas, Matisse, and Picasso, Hurzlmeier updates the voyeuristic painting tradition of showing women caught in private acts by emphasizing their contorted bodies and the awkwardness of the poses. The figures are translated into flat fields of color that become more abstract due to the unusual placement of limbs.