February 21, 2018, 2 pm
Many thanks to Elizabeth Hughes introducing our participants to the gallery concept and guiding us through the exhibitions “SIMULTANEITY BIASES” by Michael Joo and “LANDSCAPES” by Avigdor Arikha at BLAIN|SOUTHERN Gallery.
Exhibition Dates: January 20 – February 24, 2018
Location: BLAIN|SOUTHERN Gallery
Opening Hours: Tuesday – Saturday, 11 AM – 6 PM
Address: Potsdamer Straße 77-87, 10785 Berlin
“In each of the works in his new exhibition at Blain|Southern Berlin, Michael Joo takes various approaches to the idea of transitory states of objects, identities and artworks.
Geological transformation, environmental disaster, human impact, disputed borderlands, industrial processes, material fabrication and atomic-level chemical reactions are all addressed, holding equal importance when it comes to the way Joo discusses liminal spaces in his work.
Two bodies of work in the exhibition draw from the artist’s research into Sapelo Island, a naturally formed sedimentary landmass off the coast of the American state of Georgia. Used over centuries as an enclave for slave-driven industries such as tobacco plantations and timber mills, the island is now largely owned and populated by direct descendants of that enslaved workforce. As such, this now verdant nature reserve has layers of complex social and biological history that are continually overwriting one other.” (Excerpt from the press release by courtesy of BLAIN|SOUTHERN Gallery)
“Blain|Southern presents Landscapes, a selection of landscape paintings and drawings by Avigdor Arikha (1929-2010), one of the great observational artists of the late twentieth century. The gallery now represents the Estate of Avigdor Arikha and Landscapes is the first exhibition of the artist’s work. The exhibition is on view on the second floor, beginning a new programme of simultaneous exhibitions at the Berlin gallery.
While Avigdor Arikha is highly regarded for his interiors, still lifes and portraits, most of which he painted in his Paris studio, he also spent long periods in Israel and New York, and he never failed to take his pencil or brush along with him. Spending summers in Israel, he painted the warm walls, arid hills and desert vegetation, and during his frequent trips to New York City, the city’s rhythmic, rising grids became a new view to stimulate his eye and hand. His adopted hometown of Paris was his most frequent subject, from iconic Haussmann cityscapes, to seemingly overlooked patches of the city. Wherever he landed his eye, he found a subject, or a structure, worthy of a picture. Landscapes allows viewers to travel with the artist, and to see places and perspectives that were important throughout the artist’s life.” (Excerpt from the press release by courtesy of BLAIN|SOUTHERN Gallery)
More information on the BLAIN|SOUTHERN Gallery Website.