XOOOOX – Hidden Tracks 26.09.2019

FRANK FLUEGEL GALLERY, with a strong focus on
Contemporary Art and Pop Art will hold its opening
reception for the new show „XOOOOX – Hidden Tracks“
from 7 pm to 9 pm on Thursday, September 26th 2019. On
view are mostly new unique works on wood and metal. The
exhibition runs through November 30th 2019.

XOOOOX (*1979) is a German street artist who lives and
works in Berlin. Similar to Banksy the true identity behind
his pseudonym remains unknown. XOOOOX (pronounced
“zooks”) was born 1979 and started with classical graffiti
at the age of 15. He is a Berlin based Street-artist known
for guerrilla-style who works with delicate stenciled works
and installations in an Arte Povera style that consists of
weathered and decaying materials. He never went to art
school but taught himself instead by practicing under
railway bridges and while travelling around big cities like
Frankfurt or Cologne.
XOOOOX is, in fact, regarded as the first German street
artist that has come to prominence on the international art
market besides Banksy. Though the artist’s works can be
seen throughout the city, his identity remains a secret to
prevent against charges of public vandalism.

In his works, XOOOOX distinctly contrasts the glamour of
fashion culture with existentialist themes such as
vulnerability and transience. The life-size stencils of
professionally styled photo models form the leitmotif of the
figurative studies and scrutinize the worship cult and the
seduction techniques of haute couture. Beguilingly
beautiful, XOOOOX’s women convey a sense of melancholy
and introversion and allude to the growing displeasure with
the uniform, consumption-driven hype of the fashion
industry. Using transitory media such as exposed building
facades, worm-eaten wood and rusty metal, XOOOOX
grounds this apparently glamorous theme in the street, but
the artist’s aim is not to deconstruct fashion culture.
XOOOOX pays homage to traditional haute couture while
levelling criticism at the over-industrialization of fashion as
a cultural artefact of our time.

XOOOOX’s work, whether on the streets of Berlin or in a
gallery setting, conveys the dynamics between standard
ideas of beauty and ruin. Grimy buildings and rough,
untraditional art surfaces like raw wood or rusty metal are
adorned with gorgeous women, often appropriated from
photographs of fashion models, seductively glancing out to
their viewers, who may be either art enthusiasts or simply
random passerby. Many of the women are surrounded by
the letters X and O, which doubly act as the artist’s
signature and imply that it is XOOOOX himself that the
women are thinking of, implying a strong personal
connection between the artist and his women.
Thus, XOOOOX’s work is full of paradoxes. It is beautiful
and focused on stunning models, it is optimistic and yet
subversive. These qualities make his work so full of life, as
his women seem to tell their stories from the walls that
they rest upon. He is one oft he very few Street Artists
with a published monograph published - by
Gestalten/Berlin. The book is focused mainly on the artist’s
portraits of female models that he prefers to stencil or
wheat-paste onto surfaces of older buildings scarred by the
passage of time. The contrast between the strikingly
beautiful women and the crumbling walls is a fundamental
aspect of his creative vision. He has gallery affiliations in
Germany but also in Amsterdam, London and Chicago.

FRANK FLUEGEL GALLERY with spaces in
Nuernberg/Germany and Kitzbuehel/Austria is focused on
original artwork of Pop Art and Contemporary Art like Andy
Warhol, Tom Wesselmann, Keith Haring, Mr. Brainwash,
XOOOOX, Roy Lichtenstein, Julian Opie, James Rosenquist,
Alex Katz or Mel Ramos. The Gallery also trades works by
Pablo Picasso, KAWS, Gerhard Richter or Basquiat.
Changing solo shows at the gallery spaces in central
Nuernberg and Kitzbuehel expose different positions of our
gallery program. Participating at international art fairs
completes our gallery task.

Galerie Frank Fluegel
Obere Woerthstrasse 12
90403 Nuremberg
Germany

http://www.fluegel-roncak.com
Email: info (at) fluegel-roncak.com

Open Hours:
Tue - Fr 11am – 6pm
Sat 1pm – 4pm
and by appointment