SINGING WITH THE WOLVES

Posted on 2022-09-12

In fairy tales and myths it is quite common that the fate of humans and animals interact. Very often humans transform into animals and back to humans again, when the spell is broken. In the video animation East of the Sun, West of the Moon by Margit Lukács and Persijn Broersen, the title leads us
to a Nordic fairy tale about a prince who by a curse has become a white bear and lives East of the Sun and West of the Moon. It is unknown why, but this fairy tale ended up to become a song performed by Frank Sinatra in 1940. During their stay in Hybrida, an artist residency in Sweden, Margit Lukács and
Persijn Broersen encountered an ancient wasteland of the iron industry that had turned into wilderness and was inhabited by wolves. Triggered by the landscape and the wolves, in collaboration with Smári Róbertsson, the artist duo transformed Sinatra’s song into a desperately growling plea for love,
embodied by a white wolf. Spinning in circles, the hybrid wolf-man-creature is torn between the natural and the virtual, the animal and the human within him.

Opposite – Charlotte Schleiffert, Save Ukraine, 2022

Exhibition runs through to October 29th, 2022

AKINCI
Lijnbaansgracht 317
1017 WZ Amsterdam
The Netherlands

akinci.nl

  

RIIKO SAKKINEN – CHEESEBURGER NOSTRUM COTIDIANUM

Posted on 2022-09-05

Food is a frequent subject in Riiko Sakkinen’s art, but the new exhibition is his first devoted wholly to alimentary themes. Sakkinen tackles this topic in his distinctive parodic style, examining various eating-related issues through a lens of incisive social critique. The connecting ketchup-colored thread is the exuberant way Sakkinen simultaneously parades a multitude of beliefs, ideologies and values related to food, from consumerist capitalism and its multinational conglomerates to food’s role in various religions and rituals – not to forget the famine crisis, the West’s dieting obsession, and various ethical perspectives on food – the list is virtually endless. Sakkinen weaves together this medley of perspectives into a seamless pastiche, consciously ignoring the conventional way a gallery exhibition should be presented. It features a mix of both old and new art, plus a selection of pieces created in collaboration with others.

Opposite – Diet & Famine, 2020

Exhibition runs through to October 23rd, 2022

Galerie Forsblom
Galerie Forsblom Yrjönkatu 22
00120 Helsinki
Finland

www.galerieforsblom.com

  

SAIMI SUIKKANEN – LET’S NOT THINK ABOUT TOMORROW

Posted on 2022-09-05

Saimi Suikkanen’s paintings capture freeze-frame moments from her day-to-day existence, forming a visual diary reflecting on themes such as intimacy, human touch and friendship – things disrupted by the pandemic. Two years of COVID-imposed social isolation have changed our relationship with things we previously regarded as normal. Being deprived of social contact has been challenging for Suikkanen, for whom isolation has triggered occasional anxiety. This sense of unease finds reflection in her recent paintings.

Opposite – Eyeshadow play, 2022

Exhibition runs through to October 23rd, 2022

Galerie Forsblom
Galerie Forsblom Yrjönkatu 22
00120 Helsinki
Finland

www.galerieforsblom.com

  

JUSSI GOMAN – 1.618.

Posted on 2022-09-05

Jussi Goman’s new exhibition presents his recent contemplations on the concept of perfection or, more precisely, its measurability. One yardstick that is used for defining perfection, both in nature and art history, is the Golden Section. This ratio also known as the divine proportion recurs everywhere in nature, from seashells to horns and antlers. Goman offers his own take on the Golden Section in his wittily nuanced idiom of painting, engaging his brush in pursuit of perfect proportions and harmony of color. The artist is intrigued also by how contemporary society so readily embraces a supposedly universal fact such as the notion that the perfect proportions of the Golden Section must automatically be perceived by everyone as pleasing to the eye.

Opposite – Amoeba Emotions, 2022

Exhibition runs through to October 23rd, 2022

Galerie Forsblom
Galerie Forsblom Yrjönkatu 22
00120 Helsinki
Finland

www.galerieforsblom.com

  

MARC BAUER – THE DEFAULT BRAIN

Posted on 2022-08-29

For his multi-layered series of works, Bauer takes inspiration from his great interest in cultural-historical developments and our current socio-political affairs. Relevant themes from art, history, science, or geopolitics are fragmented and illuminated from different perspectives through large-scale paintings and detailed drawings that interact with site-specific wall drawings. Although black-and-white drawings with pencil and charcoal continue to play an important role in Bauer’s work, in recent years, colored surfaces with colored pencil, oil paint, and crayon have established themselves as supporting components. The combination of graphic and painterly elements forms Bauer’s characteristic visual language, which translates narrative content into a powerful visual experience. The results are narrative spatial situations whose density and color intensity have an almost immersive effect on the viewer.

Opposite – The Default Brain, Party, 2022

Exhibition runs through to October 14th, 2022

Galerie Peter Kilchmann
Zahnradstrasse 21
CH-8005 Zürich
Switzerland

www.peterkilchmann.com

  

MATTHIAS WEISCHER – MIRRORS AND THINGS

Posted on 2022-08-29

Weischer is one of the most important representatives of the New Leipzig School of figurative painting, which rose to prominence in the decades following the reunification of Germany and emphasizes classical perspective and large-format realist pictures. For his exhibition in Seoul, Weischer has created twelve new oil-on-canvas works.
Each of these paintings depicts an interior space, where straight lines of sight are subject to radical multiplication, often with oblique entry points into the picture’s compositional expanse. These scenes are populated with objects including everyday wares and even other familiar works of art that continue the vertiginous play between the flat surface of the painting and optical recession into an illusory depth of field. This tension between real and depicted space is typical of Weischer’s work and represents one of the most significant contributions to the wider arena of painting in Germany.

Opposite – Last Supper, 2022

Exhibition runs through to October 9th, 2022

KÖNIG GALERIE
412 Apgujeong-Ro
Cheongdam-Dong
Gangnam-Gu Seoul

www.koeniggalerie.com