Martin Eder: Those Bloody Colours

The pictorial creations by Martin Eder (*1968), whether committed to kitsch, eroticism, or Surrealism, have always been interwoven with deep melancholy and symbolism. This feature of his creative work becomes even more palpable in one of the most recent series by the Berlin-based painter, Those Bloody Colours. In these paintings, women lie, recline, and doze in polished armor or tattered, linen fabrics. Here are strong women bearing the traces of battle, shouldering a sword, wearily pausing. The color palette is not aggressively radiant, but rather subdued, the image clear and almost monumental. The Mönchehaus Museum Goslar presents the series for the first time in an institutional setting; in the accompanying catalogue it is examined in an art historical context and scrutinized with respect to its own construction of history. Martin Eder has furthermore been dealing with the theme of hypnosis for several years―his paintings embody a similar effect.