PREVIOUS

	BERTRAM HASENAUER - ATLA 15.01.10 – 6.03.10 We are pleased to present the Berlin based Austrian artist Betram Hasenauer in a first solo-exhibition. His delicate coloured pencil drawings, portraits, but also high-contrast landscapes and text fragments will be shown in Atla. The Artist was rewarded with the Georg-Eisler-Prize in 2008 and received the scholarship for a studio in Paliano near Rome. This year his work will be exhibited in a comprehensive solo-show at the Museum der Moderne in Salzburg, Austria. Hasenauer’s figures shut themselves from the viewer in turning away or freeze in their own gestures. At any time they are maintaining a distance: mostly in fixating the viewer with their intense eyes but also seem to be lost in their deep thoughts some place far away. They reveal an isolation, in which they are timeless. The viewer is being transformed into a spectator, as the protagonists are not allowing any interaction, turning away, disguising themselves, and not reacting to no one. The distinctive, strong gestures are showing individuals constantly on the brink between de-personalized figures and self-contained, strong personalities. Via simple surfaces the figures are being stylized, whereby it’s hard to distinguish between countenance and mask. Yet the intense gaze and the self-sufficing characters brake with this perception. Significant is that Hasenauer operates with photographic templates from the media. He alienates them to the extent that no direct reference is recognizable. The essence of these drawings -the detachment from reality- persists. The secluded figures appear to resemble a memory or a dream. Like the portraits, the structural drawings of landscapes and the associative letterings convey an idea of a timeless realm in which one loses oneself. In these narrative elements are abandoned to a greater extent. As a result the works do not follow a common plot. In the discrepancy to reality the individuals are shown in total isolation. They are referring to a melancholic depth and invite the viewer, who is participates in this distance universe, to a distant place – Atla.
	MALTE SPOHR / CORINNE LAROCHE – TOUR dHORIZON 12.3.10 – 24.4.10 In der Ausstellung tour dhorizon bringen wir die aus Frankreich stammende Künstlerin Corinne Laroche und den deutschen Künstler Malte Spohr zusammen. Beide Künstler zeichnen sich durch ihre strukturhaften und analytische Bildkonzepte aus, die auf ihre je eigene Weise Fragen nach visueller Evidenz und deren Erkenntnismöglichkeiten durch Wahrnehmungsprozesse stellen. Beide Künstler gehen von fotografischen Vorlagen aus, die sie digital bearbeiten bevor sie die Motive auf das Papier übertragen. Durch die Übersetzung der Bilder in formalisierte Grundelemente, wie Kästchen und Linien, entsteht in der Vefremdung eine reflexive Distanz zum Ausgangsmaterial. Die so geschaffenen Kompositionen sind frei von gestischer Expressivität oder vermeintlicher zeichnerischer Virtuosität. In ihnen werden die Dinge in ihrer Textur erkennbar gemacht, die abstrakt erscheint, doch zugleich eine materielle Eigenschaft vermittelt. Die Strenge der nach System konstruierten Linien und Kästchen wird damit aufgehoben, die Strukturen scheinen sich dem Bild zu fügen und werden zu einem lebendigen Muster, das sich unregelmäßig über das Blatt verteilt. Malte Spohr platziert bei seinen Zeichnungen die Linien mit einem Lineal, Zeile für Zeile durchgehend, von Oben bis Unten auf das Papier. Das Motiv entsteht durch das Ab- und Aufsetzen des Stiftes und den Druck, den er darauf ausübt. Er verweigert sich somit einem klassischen Aufbau ausgehend von Konturen und Schraffuren, die die Lesart der Formen diktieren. Der Blick auf die Motive, die in dem gewählten extremen Panoramaquerformat wie Landschaften oder Materialien erscheinen, verbleibt unfokussiert. Als wäre man in Gedanken versunken, wie das Bild, das sich nach dem Abwenden vom Licht noch für einen kurzen Moment auf der Netzhaut abbildet. Die Zeichnungen enthalten etwas Amorphes, das sich zu Motiven zu sortieren scheint, sich jedoch gleich wieder verflüchtigt. Die Strukturen von Corinne Laroche ergeben sich konkreter und geordneter. Ihre Motive scheinen überdimensional vergrößert und dadurch gepixelt zu sein. Die Felder verteilen sich von einem Zentrum ausgehend und schaffen durch Ausweitung und Verdichtung der Pixel eine Dramaturgie, die dem Anschein von Zufälligkeit entgegenwirkt. Die hier ausgestellten Werke sind in Positiv- und Negativformen gegenübergestellt, was zusätzlich unterstreicht, dass es sich weder um wahllose, unkoordinierte Formen, noch um starre logarithmische Tabellen oder Raster handelt. Es verbleibt eine Matrix, die das ursprüngliche Motiv fixiert, doch nicht deutlich umreisst. Die Motive werden nach und nach von den Künstlern aufgebaut, und folgen weder starren Regeln, noch dem Zufall, sondern sind Resultat einer ausführlichen Betrachtung und Untersuchung von Dingen, die sich einzigartig in einem ihrer Details oder in einem flüchtigen Moment präsentieren. Die Künstler nähern sich den Motiven auf intime Weise, indem sie die Vorlagen in ihrer Tiefenstruktur untersuchen: Als würden die Künstler zunächst die Erscheinung in ihrem vollen Spektrum erfassen und danach sich nur Fragmenten davon nähern. Sie geben lediglich einen Ausschnitt der Wirklichkeit wieder und lösen die Motive aus ihrem üblichen Kontext. Die monotonen und kontinuierlichen Linien und Felder werden durch die Auseinandersetzung mit den Vorlagen diktiert und in einer beeindruckenden Akribie von den Künstlern zum vollendeten Bild ausgearbeitet. Wie in einem meditativen Vorgang entstehen die Werke mit dem Verlauf der Zeit. Zunächst als abstraktes Muster verkannt, erschließen sich die Motive als intelligente Auseinandersetzung mit komplexen Strukturen der Dinge und ihrer Wahrnehmung, die es zu entschlüsseln gilt.
	MARK LAMMERT - BEAUTY IS BOOTY 30.04.10 - 5.06.10 In our third solo-exhibition with the Berlin based artist Mark Lammert we present two bodies of work. On the one hand they are drawn adaptions of encountered, as well as created configurations of bodies in space, and on the other hand they illustrate examinations of the relationship between line, color and surface, as abstract elements of this dialectic arrangement. The first set of drawings has been produced since 2006 examining the anatomical collection of the Musèe Fragonard in Paris. Mark Lammert deals with the animal specimen through investigation and observation, which were arranged and marked with colors according to an today unknown system. His representation of these bones are reminiscent of archaeological sketches of discoveries, but they also celebrate and intensify the amazing colors on the bonestructures. Partly Lammert would document the information (for instance colors) by writing the name of the color on the paper. The works are situated on a thin line between material presence and reflections on physical evanescence. The second body of works has links to the first. Next to drawing and the painting Mark Lammert for many years has been working intensively for theatre productions. He staged a great number of scenes, among others with Heiner Müller, Jean Jourdheuil or Volker Schlöndorff. Mark Lammert also created the stage and the costumes for the Aeschylus play “The Persians�, directed by Dimiter Gotscheff that was performed 2009 in Epidaurus. However, the works that emerged in this context are no “classical� costume sketches, but drawings that have their origin in other interests. They can be seen as a continuation of the anatomical Studies. They are similarly considering the body, space and color. One can spot layers of fabrics in different colors, which are winded around body parts and engulf each other. The color fields, primarily bluish and reddish, are not indicating a textile texture or surface, but seem to preserve their autonomy as an aesthetic sign. The actors bodies, hidden under the colors, are just marked by minor indications and are more absent than present as a negative volume. The drawings of both groups of works are placed on hand-dipped solid textured paper, which encourages the tactile experience of the works. A very accuratly drawn grid, between paper and drawing, serves as an intermediate ground, at which the viewer is able to orientate himself, while optically sensing the body parts, similar to following coordinates in space. Although Mark Lammert is approaching the objects with a lucid view of investigation, precise and analytical, his approach is unquestionably an artistic one. He sets up the rules for the object and his perception of them. He captures the beauty of a moment or detail and transforms it into a new esthetic order. The result is a very basic remains, a trace of our physical existence on the very base of this transformation into art.
	ASTRID KÖPPE – ITS A FLAT WORLD 11.6.10 – 31.7.10 The world according to Astrid Köppe...is flat. It takes place on the plain surfaces of paper and enamel steel sheets. At the same time her cosmos of objects, plants and animal-like phenomena are tremendously vivid, haptically tangible and enriched through an allure of the surface. The motives of the Berlin based artist, born in 1974 have their origin in specific experiences and observations. Associatively she transforms her visual knowledge into her own fantastic bizarre universe. In the same way, the spectator approaches the result captured in the drawing, also through association. You might see all kinds of things in them: furniture, underwear, purses, bizarre objects between absurdity and sensuality. You can never be sure. The objects are located somewhere between the familiar and the unfamiliar. As if suddenly captured in a metamorphosis, or put in a different way: digital morphing stopped halfway. But the viewer is forced to return to ones own perception, that has the greatest possible ambiguity. Despite the clearly recognisable textures: fur, plush, hair, or sting, the specific character of the object continuously spurns irritation. On the bigger enamels the objects have a stronger pictogramic character. Outlines are sharper and clearer, and through their strong figurative presence they appear almost as logos even though their message still remains enigmatic. The diversity of the materials used in the drawings are replaced by the interaction of the glittering light on the different layers of enamel. Astrid Köppe will together with Bertram Hasenauer be presented at this year’s artfair the solo project in Basel.
	ERASERHEAD 10.9.– 23.10 2010 Jonathan Callan - Jürgen von Dückerhoff - Alex Hamilton - Bertram Hasenauer Christian Holstad - Hansjörg Schneider - Mark Sheinkman - John Sparagana Inspiried by the exhibition If you melted, I would melt myself in to you at  Patrick Heide Contemporary Art in London. Erasing – wiping out – eliminating... These are the techniques and terms that the artists  presented in the exhibition Eraserhead are dealing with. Melting as a concept is here brought to the next level: to the point of the dissolution of the material. Through this process something new emerges. At the same time, nothing can be erased completely: The remains of the original objects are still present in the newly formed shapes: the traces left behind are still visible. The artists erase and transform the visuel information, and in doing so, they have to include the eliminated part in the concept of their new draft. Whatever emerges is thereby responding to the erased parts. In 1953, when Robert Rauschenberg was still at the beginning of his carrier, he asked Willem de Kooning if he would give one of his drawings to him, so he could erase it. In erasing art, Rauschenberg created his own art that gained its significance through the previous creation. An act of patricide and birth. Erasing, sanding and eliminating are procedures that employ the materiality of the medium. New motifs emerge from the existing objects and at the same time the characteristics of the medium paper are being made visible: its vulnerability, its fragility, its evanescence.  Mark Sheinkman first covers the complete surface of the paper with graphite powder, in which he subsequently erases abstract shapes and forms. By sanding, polishing and rubbing onto the paper he penetrates the space of the image in a very tactile way. Applying different levels of pressure to the surface he creates the incredible effect of depth. The gestural moment in this process leaves an impression of movement as well as stagnation. Bertram Hasenauer tends to work in a similar way. He covers the paper with a tight grid of deep indigo-blue colour that has been drawn with finely dashed lines. On this field of colour  he creates various elements of nature or landscapes by erasing: branches, trees, clouds or the moon. These illuminated shapes, liberated from the dark (resemble Michelangelo’s platonic idea of the sculptural form already preexisting in the stone, that just needs to be liberated) are reduced in such a way, that the landscapes turn into an abstract Space. Alex Hamilton makes photocopies, wipes out surfaces, adds drawing and eventually repeats the process. He presents urban worlds, which combine constantly changing perspectives. The snapshot gets blurred and complemented through new images. You recognise processes of movement and time. As if he shows an insight in futuristic worlds, in which the current reality is blended with illusions of the future. Also John Sparagana is in his works referring to vanity. He takes images from fashion magazines, tears them, fatigues them, crumples them up, and patches them back together after that. The glossiness of these magazines and their world become damaged. And like the pictures lose their flawless semblance, the praised products and the youthful striking beauty of the models will sooner or later lose their flawlessness. By erasing you have to refer to the former existing images. The piece cannot free itself from its context. Christian Holstad works with black and white pictures from newspapers, which he changes and alienates through erasing and overdrawing. The reinterpretation of the narratives overshadows the original context. Still the echo of the primary images soaks through. The alienation shows a different perspective of the reality, but continuous to refer to the former one. Jürgen von Dückerhoff is using pages from books, with mainly historical motifs he edits in a very grotesque manner. The motifs are carried away from their usual surroundings and find themselves in a surreal dream, which is unmasking the pretty glance and exposing them in an ironic way: The portrait of the war general masked with flowers or the admiring woman, kneeling on a pile of shells. Be it the famous group picture after the Jalta conference or the portrait of a star: also Jonathan Callan uses photos. He changes them ironically, in wiping out the most characteristic part: the face. Serious facial expressions dissolve; you see blurred figures that brake with the seriousness and sobriety of the motifs and their iconic charisma. Holstad, Dückerhoff and Callan all questioning the represented by erasing the surface and peal out a core, which shows a different perspective. Through the process of wiping out the former existing images,  erasing can be become a statement. Hansjörg Schneider uses postcards of famous non-objective artworks (Mondrian, Albers, Klein). He destroys the surface, wipes and moves the colours. The transformed piece still quotes its source, but in being completely deconstructed, Schneider is with its components (colour pigments of the postcard) succeeding in constructing a totally new image. A special depth characterizes the art piece that emerges through erasing. This is expressed on an aesthetical or a reflexive level. The metamorphosis of the image, beginning with the original and ending with the final result, has to be taking in to consideration. The process of the formation is part of the image. We would like to thank following galleries for their kind cooperation: Kudlek van der Grinten Galerie, courtesy Jonathan Callan Galerie Michael Wiesehöfer, courtesy Jürgen von Dückerhoff Patrick Heide Contemporary Art, courtesy Alex Hamilton
	ANDREAS SCHMID - ...SONDERN DASS SIE IST 29.10.10 - 4.12.10 Andreas Schmids current exhibition presents 3 central elements of his artistic practice: drawings on paper, walldrawings and drawing with light. The dominant element of his art is the line, which is being materialised in the space of the gallery by various techniques and in different shapes It appears as a trace of movement through the use of coloured pencil or tempera on the paper. The paper is sometimes neutrally white but also the grid paper of architects providing a scale of measurement, is being used. Additionally, the line is created through masking tape in various colours. The masking tape is also used when he directlyworks on the wall. Schmid combines it with lines drawn with pigment, which he preferably applies with the brush. Eventually he creates lines and shapes of fluorescent tubes in tones of white, green and yellow. Here the ontological status of the line is bipolar: It has a haptical-physical presence (as a tube on the wall), and it exists in an immaterial mode of the light, which brightly shines and theryby overshadows (!) the linear tube. Therefore, the line is part of the material and the immaterial. It is both: representative and expressive. The line always exists in the present, in the time of its own evolvement. The line is trace, mark and in its completed state also the record of its genesis. The line, as it appears here is a fact, a phenomenon, a setting. It is changing the space in which it appears. It responds to it and transforms the perception of the space. The same space without any of these interventions of light, pigment and tape would be totally different - a truism but also a significant observation- as the lines funcion to bring the audience to a deeper understanding, they put a focus on the proportions and dimensions, as well as they change the sense of space. They set the standard, from which the perception of the space and the perception of the recipient become tangible. The lines create facts that are by no means self-referential, as they are not ornamental or decorative, but always analytical instruments, which penetrate and question the surrounding space. Andreas Schmid (*1955) lives and works in Berlin. His work has been presented in variousof national and international Exhibitions. Recently at the Mumok in Vienna and at the Foundation Dommnick together with the Kunstverein Nürtingen. He was artist in residence of the Chinati Foundation in Marfa, Texas and attended guest professorships at several universities. Schmid, who many years lived in China, is considered to be an expert on contemporary Chinese art and has worked as a curator in this field several times. In the past he has also been involved in numerous publications concerning drawing, space and Chinese contemporary art.

Deutsch  |  English