KATRIN FRIDRIKS – FLYING AWARENESS

Posted on 2014-06-24

Inspired by the artist’s remote native land and a continuation of her experimental use of colour and liquid painterly movement.

Fridriks’ fiercely expressive multi-layered canvases take on a three-dimensional perspective, encouraging the viewer to seek out their own perception of the wildly suggestive works. Exploring both the micro and macro elements of the new heavily textural pieces, Fridriks has developed the meticulous production and conception of her spirited pictorial abstractions.

The new body of evocative work strives to create distance from the paintings themselves and instead highlight the audience’s own perception and imagination. Playing across a variety of media and fine-tuned technical execution, Fridriks explores the dynamics and emotional boundaries between herself and the viewing public.

Exhibition runs from June 27th to July 24th, 2014

Lazarides Rathbone
11 Rathbone Place
London
W1T 1HR

www.lazinc.com

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KRIŠTOF KINTERA – NERVOUS TREES

Posted on 2014-06-24

“Nervous Trees” each consist of a substructure of branches on top of which sits a globe. The structure carries the sphere as though it were the body and the world its head. The upside-down branches are reminiscent of a system of veins or nerves in a biological organism. The installation’s individual pieces, which are up to three-and-a-half meters high, tremble at regular intervals according to a set logarithm, while the sound of the movement fills the space. It seems as though they have fallen victim to a nervous disorder, leading to their movements no longer being purposeful and keeping them on the spot, which makes it look as though they are performing a kind of dance.

The viewer looking at the “Nervous Trees” literally gains a different perspective onto planet earth. By breaking with ingrained viewing habits, Kintera is able to take a step back: The gap thus created provides space for reflection. The nervously twitching earth, wreathing and shivering as it sits on top of a system agonized through sensory overload, can certainly be understood as social criticism. Which is why it seems plausible to surmise that the artist calls our optimism concerning science and technology and society’s belief in progress into question. The “Nervous Trees” prompt us to think about the future of the Earth’s overly aggravated support system and in turn about the way in which we interact with our environment. Trees as “our planet’s lungs” constitute a fundamental, life-sustaining foundation which seems to have been thrown off kilter, endangering the Earth’s equilibrium in its shivering ballet.

Exhibition runs through to July 26th, 2014

Schleicher/Lange
Markgrafenstrasse 68
10969 Berlin
Germany

www.schleicherlange.com

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CRISTINA DE MIGUEL – ABSOLUTELY YOURS

Posted on 2014-06-24

This show features the current series of De Miguel’s idiosyncratic paintings – at once sophisticated and disarmingly childlike, both formal and relaxed, and always steeped in humor and gesture. The title Absolutely Yours has the feeling of a heartfelt salutation as well as a sincere goodbye. The paintings are captured moments, ideas, and emotions, which can be seen in a similar light to a warm embrace and, at the same time, a tearful farewell. This non-linear (and sometimes ridiculous) quality of narrative in her work lends itself to an open-ended viewing. There is no absolute, no one particular way to view her paintings: they need to be explored and experienced. Each painting asks us (the viewer): discover me, engage with me, experience me, and feel me. The audience is invited to fill in the blanks. De Miguel’s imagery derives from her unique life, and through paint she presents painting as a celebration, and a viable lifestyle.

Her source material is defiantly autobiographical. Her painting Candy Saga feels like it was made on a subway platform in Chinatown. The black paint seems to be the same black paint used to paint the MTA’s large garbage receptacles (the ones that always seem to have a wet-paint sign attached). De Miguel captures this grittiness, this grim reality in a witty, mischievous, and untroubled way. The text in this painting states “Candy Saga In The Subway,” and there appears to have been a candy explosion. A little kid has thrown his skittles into the subway car, or college kids are stuffing their faces with jellybeans on the way home from a rave. Cristina distills this epic into something we can consume and be nourished from. She reminds us that our day-to-day commutes are filled with bizarre, amusing, and poignant moments.

Opposite – Lovestory, 2014

Exhibition runs through to July 12th, 2014

FREIGHT + VOLUME
530 W. 24th Street
New York
NY 10011

www.freightandvolume.com

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