JOHANNES KAHRS – EMBRACE

Posted on 2017-03-27

Kahrs is best known for his evocative paintings in which he explores the duality of images, both as representations as well as constructions. His process begins with a photographic source taken from various forms of mass media, advertisements, or personal snapshots, which he recreates and alters on canvas. While he rarely reveals the sources of his imagery, his paintings are imbued with echoes of their original context. The resulting ambiguity allows him to suspend meaning, leading his audience to question not only what is portrayed, but moreover the circumstances of the image at the time of its creation.
The exercise of power through representation serves as an important counterpoint to Kahrs’s imagemaking process. His paintings are often suffused with undertones of violence, death, and sexuality, where the body appears in mysterious and equivocal situations. His interests, however, lie within capturing moments of fluidity and elusiveness as opposed to something fixed or overtly political. In this obscure territory, an embrace can alternatively be construed as brutal force. As Kahrs endeavors to relinquish control over the image, he seeks to encounter something unexpected or accidental, creating enigmatic works that verge on the brink of familiarity.

Opposite – Girl with mask, 2014

Exhibition runs through to April 22nd, 2017

Luhring Augustine
531 West 24th Street
New York
NY 10011

www.luhringaugustine.com

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GILLES BARBIER – ARTIST IMPRESSION

Posted on 2017-03-27

Gaël Charbau : Almost all your works belong to programmes, ideas, statements that you invent and that result in multiple series. If one day we were able to outline the cartography of this true galaxy, it would allow us to comprehend all the connections gathering your works in one and the same world. You are now presenting a nascent series from within this universe which is entitled « Ce qui est sorti du chapeau aujourd’hui » (What was pulled out of the hat today). Can you detail the underlying principle?

Gilles Barbier : The hat is the head, and today a clock’s frequency. As is often the case, the idea is to combine the power of doing with a freedom which can contradict the approach, often accompanied by a heavy, hackneyed and discriminating lexicon. In order to do this, I devise strategies to trigger a bursting within a given frame, where each fragment can subsequently be garnered. I call this principle a production machine. Combining machine and subjectivity is something that has troubled me for a long time now, at least since AI has allowed to clarify this interaction. Ce qui est sorti du chapeau aujourd’hui acts as a production machine and therefore I don’t need to be preoccupied about the objects it produces, only to be attentive and dedicated.

Opposite – Exhibition view

Exhibition runs through to April 22nd, 2017

Galerie Georges-Philippe & Nathalie Vallois
33 & 36, rue de Seine
75006 Paris
France

www.galerie-vallois.com

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