Chris von Steiner @ Strychnin Gallery London

Strychnin Gallery proudly presents: The Snow King. A solo show featuring Chris von Steiner. Opening February 15th, 7 p.m., at Strychnin Gallery London.

There's a door, somewhere. A door that opens on a white and silent world, where every secret is kept frozen under snow and ice. There's a kingdom, somewhere. A kingdom wherein there lives a sad little boy, waiting for some brave stranger to deliver him from his icy castle. There's a king, somewhere. A lonely little king willing to offer you his crown, who is not exactly who you might think he is. There's a door, somewhere. A magical door you'd better leave shut if you're not prepared to meet the child you forget you were.

Welcome to the world of French visual artist Chris von Steiner. Using his fantasies, dreams and desires, Chris creates digital fairytales out of the stories he grew up with, stories that have since turned into eerie tales of passion, fear, loneliness, pride, innocence and hope. Combining the pop icons of his youth with bold colors, elements from movies, music, books, and television, Chris von Steiner’s digital paintings have a haunting familiarity right upon first sight. Like a pop song touching your heart and sticking in your mind, von Steiner’s works invade your memory and stir up tales you can get lost in. He has exhibited all over Europe and the USA.

Von Steiner’s new series of work titled “The Snow King” takes you to an icy kingdom that visions of childhood dreams and nightmares, brotherhood, family ties, loyalty and betrayal abound in. The story told in these images is hard to make out – which of the characters is to be trusted? Who is good and who is evil? Set in a cold winter wonderland, the Queen is holding her dead son, two brothers are close but one is silenced, a stag is prancing through the snow… let your fancies take you to this enchanted kingdom and lose yourself in your own imagination.

Strychnin Gallery is proud to present French artist Chris von Steiner with his first solo show in London.

Chris von Steiner: The Snow King
Opening: Feb. 15th, 7 pm
Show runs until: March 30th, 2008
@ Strychnin Gallery London
65 Hanbury Street
London E1 5JP
+44 207 247 5666
Contact: Iris Bitter// Public Relations
Mail: production@strychnin.com
Web: www.strychnin.com
Open: Fri - Sun 12-6

With galleries in three bustling hotspots – New York City, Berlin, and London – Strychnin Gallery is a playground for artists from all around the globe. It is a place where collaboration is encouraged, new projects are constantly developed and creativity is the one and only thing that truly counts.

Owned by charismatic curator Yasha Young, Strychnin is dedicated to presenting emerging American artists to the European art world and vice versa. It features a variety of artists with particular individual styles rather than artists belonging to a collective “hip” movement. If you insist on putting a label on them, try lowbrow turned highbrow, pop surrealism or fantastic realism among others.

Founded in Brooklyn in 1998, the gallery opened a European showroom in Berlin in 2002. The US gallery has since moved to a location in Manhattan’s Chelsea district, opening with a group show featuring over 70 artists in October of 2006. Strychnin opened a third location in East London’s vibrant art scene right off of Brick Lane in October 2007.

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