Redux is a series of paintings based on the group portrait  “The Night Watch”, by Rembrandt.   Taking his cue from Rembrandt, who costumed his subjects and used them as actors in a drama of his own making (and to suit his own artistic purposes), Podeswa has replaced the original cast of “The Night Watch” with his own characters – a collection of geometric shapes and Gumby-like ‘figures’ inspired by the originals. 

“I have never seen the Night Watch as a naturalistic painting. To me it is all about artifice and theatricality - the subjects do not read as real warriors, but as people acting like them. These are properties that I’ve tried to distill and even exaggerate in my cover versions.”

Howard Podeswa