S / W
Installations, objects, and paintings by Martina Friedrich, Alexandra Karrasch, Jan Kiefer, Karsten Konrad, and Caroline Kryzecki
The artistic engagement with black and white is more complex than one might typically imagine. It embodies an ascetic confession, a quest for clarity through limitation, and an exploration of a seemingly restricted space. The artists gathered in the exhibition S/W vary this thematic area through different working methods and material uses. The omnipresent sharpness of form and non-objectivity seem almost programmatic.
Martina Friedrich takes "seeing black" literally and installs a black spatial installation in the dimly lit basement beneath the exhibition spaces, which only becomes visible to the viewer as their eyes gradually adjust to the darkness.
Alexandra Karrasch explores the potential of materials through processes of repetition. As they are reassembled into new contexts, these materials begin to transcend their own nature and original classification. The layers of stacked carbon paper and conglomerates of meticulously uncovered egg membranes allow for an immediate experience of the materiality of black and white.
Jan Kiefer presents the current state of his work “bad painting, good sculpture, good painting, bad sculpture” (work in progress). The artist, who works in drawing, painting, and sculpture, transforms failed paintings into successful sculptures and vice versa. The black-and-white contrast he employs within the installation takes on an ironic quality.
Karsten Konrad combines found objects, charged with unknown personal histories, into formally minimalist wall reliefs. Old furnishings, kitchen utensils, sports equipment, etc., are disassembled and sawed apart by him, bringing what he perceives in them into a new context in a collage-like manner. The finely balanced act of various forms and materials is evident in the works presented here, which explore the boundaries of black and white.
Caroline Kryzecki plays with the tripartite nature of a picture panel constructed from identical wooden boards in ever-new variations. The visible connecting pieces sparked the initial idea for a series of images that build upon each other associatively. Within the simple geometric vocabulary of forms and the reduction to black and white, positive and negative, her experimental spirit and great wealth of ideas become apparent.
Vernissage: Thursday, April 1, 2010, 7:30 PM
Sunday, April 25, 2010, 7:30 PM Finissage with artist talk and drawing of the art lottery.