Norbert Bisky Echelon, 2024/2025

Executed in oil on canvas, Echelon depicts three bare-chested male figures in a lush tropical setting. Two of the figures occupy the foreground in open, active postures: one holds a long staff, while the other extends an arm outward while gripping a blade-like object. A third, smaller figure recedes into the upper left corner, creating a sense of spatial depth. Large tropical leaves frame the composition, which is set against a loosely painted background of mauve, ochre and acid green.

The title, which refers to a military formation, introduces an element of latent tension to what would otherwise be an Arcadian scene. The glistening, athletic bodies draw on the iconography of classical figure painting and propaganda imagery, which is characteristic of Bisky's artistic practice. As is often the case in Bisky's work, the individual body is poised between seduction and unease.