July 20, 2016, 2 pm
Many thanks to Marie Gerbaulet introducing our participants to the concept of EIGEN + ART Lab and guiding us through the group exhibition by artists MICHAEL DEKKER & SIMON MULLAN in collaboration with Dr. Hans-Jörg Clement, curator of the Trustee Programm EHF 2010 of the Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung.
Exhibition Dates: July 05 – July 30, 2016
Location: EIGEN + ART Lab
Opening Hours: Tuesday ‐ Friday 2 pm ‐ 6 pm, Saturday 11 am ‐ 6 pm
Address: Torstraße 220, 10115 Berlin
“Simon Patrick Mullan (*1981) and Michael Dekker (*1983) are counted among those artists who resist being divided into a specific classification. Nevertheless they reflect and exploit the whole field of the different genres. Mullan describes himself as an experimental designer of paintings and space, Dekker characterizes his work as a space intervention. Both positions combine the formal question with sociopolitical relevant content without running the risk of explaining themselves in an obviously, superficial way.
From both artists, works which run through the phenomenon of the tempting surface have been chosen for the dialogue between Mullan and Dekker. Mullan’s textile collages of iconographic MA-1 jackets of Alpha Industries transform the difficulty of identity formation by acquisition of aesthetic and sociological codes. The replaceable uniform offers various (sub-) cultures an appearance of individuality – to dissolve them at the same time. Here too, however, it is valid that every surface has a back and every form has a content: The back of Mullan’s collages light up in orange. The outwards turned inner lining is supposed to provide safety in case of an emergency.
Also Dekker is aware of the ambivalence of form. The master student of Tony Cragg chooses an almost classic-abstract sculpture to transform the question of architecture and tectonics. Just as Mullan deconstructs and reconstructs, also Dekker fragments the space context to reinvent them in alienated volumes. Antique structures, cathedral appeal get bent with shopping malls and arcades to rapid motorways. Gravity will be suspended and everything sparkles tempting and precious in polished precious metal.
Simon Patrick Mullan and Michael Dekker are both scholarship holders of the Trustee Programm EHF 2010 of the Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung.” (Text: Hans-Jörg Clement, by courtesy of EIGEN + ART Lab)
More information on the EIGEN + ART Lab Website.
