A painting and photography duo poking fun at fine art

The creative duo of artist Hank Schmidt in der Beek and photographer Fabian Schubert have been working on their hilarious project, Und im Sommer tu ich malen (which translates as, And in the Summer I do paint) since 2009. However, it wasn’t until the hysterical results were published by Edition Taube that it brought a chuckle to the It’s Nice That studio.

The idea behind the project is for the pair to travel to locations any arts aficionado may recognise. Environments painted by Paul Cezanne, Claude Monet or Vincent Van Gogh are all visited, but rather than replicating their celebrated works, Hank chooses to paint the pattern of his shirt instead.

Edition Taube explains that “the work combines conceptual and concrete art as well as plein air and portrait painting,” however Hank elaborates that “basically, I paint whatever my wardrobe offers me”. The duo combining art and comedy actually met on a mountain hike together in 2009. “He was with his medium format camera to take some photographs, me with some canvases and an easel to make some paintings,” Hank explains. Although, once Hank was faced with the vast landscape his artistic intuition turned in an alternative direction. “Confronted with the immenseness of the mountains and the littleness of my canvasses, I decided to paint what’s nearest to me instead of what’s afield and giant.”

The results of Hank and Fabian’s humorous adventures around Europe have been showcased in a number of solo and group shows but this publication is a chance to appreciate the joy of a peculiar project, visually realised excellently.