Lauren Powell Presents:

~ Adrian Schachter Rich ~

Cardboard Kingdom

Even before we became confined to our homes this year increasing our habits of ravenously consuming digital media content, Adrian Schachter knew the importance of questioning everything. In his new series of works showing animals on tactile surfaces, Adrian invites us to retrain our brains and look at situations differently. He pulls imagery from the internet of animals in dynamic situations and redacts portions of the scene before merging the images and environments. By combining disparate, but somehow tangentially related, imagery he creates relationships more profound and unexpected than when they existed on their own. But what narrative ARE you seeing? The puzzle of figuring it out is what makes these works so strong. There exists a timely sense of tension between the primal animal behaviors and the rich, whimsical, stylised treatments of the backgrounds - mimicking the disconnection of our own human interactions. A disconnect from intimacy now that our lives are filled with porn, zoom, and elbow greetings. Why is there such disdain for the violent side of the animal kingdom when we might be the most violent creatures on this planet? Who is actually more dangerous to the Animal Kingdom than humans?

Similarly, the text pieces reinforce the craving to touch. With Adrian’s extensive development of surface texture via oil pastels, he reminds us that things aren’t always as they appear. The phrases and words presented are lines from poems he has written, but when taken out of context, these words become arrogant and self important, demanding attention that is rewarded with ambiguity in lieu of an explanation. While negative in meaning, Adrian pushes the works back to the positive realm with style, texture, and color and sees these works as honest reactions to a time where one might find themself in a state of both helplessness and vulnerability. He enforces the important notion that we must always look past the surface, look further, think differently.

Learn more about Adrian’s work here: https://www.instagram.com/adrianschachter .

Adrian Schachter Rich is an artist currently living and working in Milan, Italy. Growing up in a family encompassed by art Adrian was taught to question everything, resulting in an idealistic cynicism. This investigative nature is prevalent in his work - whether it be paintings, drawings, or poems. Like the majority of his generation, Adrian has a voracious appetite for digesting data in every form, and he has discovered that the more diverse and psychologically charged the information he stumbles upon, the more increasingly numb and detached he becomes. Adrian holds a BFA from School of Visual Arts (SVA) with honors, New York, NY, and has shown in numerous shows internationally since 2016 in: Paris, Shanghai, London, LA, and New York.