Sydney Schrader at Lars Friedrich, Berlin

The small acrylic paintings on paper are the source for the other paintings. These small ones allow Schrader to go step by step from what, to her, is the very beginning. In these small paintings, she has started moving forms to the center, to have less of a relationship to the edge. This has informed the larger, stretched paintings. The larger stretched paintings are also answers to the question of what happens to the kinds of shapes in the small paintings when they get bigger. The music playing in the show has also informed the larger stretched paintings. They are recordings Schrader’s father made in 1976 that she got ahold of recently. The sculptures are part of a series in progress and they are titled Emil. They are made to balance on the wall. The sculptures are top heavy, so the flat vertical part is pressed back into the wall by the heavy top that juts out and curves. They are not only intended for art spaces, but also for all kinds of rooms out in the world. Schrader believes when they are in rooms out in the world, there doesn’t need to be more than one in any room, and there would ideally be one in every room. Additionally they can be at any height or place on a wall. They don’t need to hang at the height of a painting, say.

at Lars Friedrich, Berlin
until June 7, 2025