By calling his vintage canvases ‘‘objets trouvés’’, Buechler makes a direct connection between his own practice and the tradition of early 20th century art: just like the ‘assemblages’ of the Surrealists, Buechler’s works combine objects and materials whose connection (if any) is not immediately visible, but rather bring new connections and visual/textural combinations into play. With that said, Buechler does not depart completely from the two-dimensional plane of the canvas, preferring instead to build his assemblages from back to front, in a kind of compact, close-contact layering. Whether it’s through oil painting, silkscreen printing, neon lights, or even an entire cupboard full of photographs attached to a tapestry, what strikes us is the way these works evoke a sense of proximity, attachment and attraction. Indeed, there is a tension in the way Buechler ruthlessly covers up the identity of the people in his found canvases, or hastily silkscreen-prints newspaper headlines on all sorts of surfaces — a tension that perhaps has to do with how, from in between the tidy rows of pixels and the humour of it all, the past is staring at us, unblinkingly.

{YatzerTip} Peter Buechler is currently presenting his most recent work at an exhibition titled AFTER DARK in his studio in Berlin (Naumannstr. 81, Haus 74, 10829 Berlin-Schöneberg). The show will be open until 30 April 2015 and viewings are by appointment only: [email protected].