Bemerkungen
ON SHOW DURING UNSEEN — Ola Kolehmainen: "A museum is for me a 'tabula rasa', an empty slate that possesses an atmosphere to which I want to acclimatise myself. At first I just familiarise myself with being in the space, observing it. I take a huge number of pictures as fast and as intuitively as I can. I spend hours or days in the space, observing how it changes with the hours of the day. The key spaces and grandest views of museums have been depicted so many times before. Although I do give everything a go and also take pictures of the more recognisable views, they often seem quite uninteresting to me. I do not value museum spaces in terms of their significance as relates to history, politics or power. I am, of course, aware of the role that power and hierarchies play in the history of museums, but for me museums – like churches – are first and foremost sacred spaces of art."
During Unseen (17-19 September), Galerie Mirko Mayer will show a series of works by Ola Kolehmainen. The Finnish photographer became known for his minimalistic close ups of architectural details including surfaces and patterns; from steel and tiles to glass. By focusing on details, Kolehmainen wants us to cherish the materials and forms, and to rethink how a building is perceived. For his newer work, Kolehmainen found inspiration in the architecture of historical buildings like museums, a series which will be on show during Unseen. Kolehmainen actively strives for a kind of artistic neutrality. Through techniques of fragmentation and deconstruction, Kolehmainen gains a sense of abstraction in many of his work, but he does not use any kind of digital manipulation. In the end result, Kolehmainen manages to capture the sublime essence of these spaces.
ON SHOW DURING UNSEEN — During Unseen (17-19 September), Galerie Mirko Mayer will show a series of works by Julia Gunther. Gunther is a German artist based in Amsterdam who specialises in collaborative documentary projects. Her work centres around a critical approach to prevailing narratives and established ideas, focusing on representational deficits within underrepresented communities.
Gunther will show work from her recent series "Calendar Girls", - a photographic collaboration chronicling the Miss Calendar Girl Beauty Pageant, an annual competition in Cape Town, South Africa, where trans women compete for the honour of being crowned Miss Calendar Girl. The pageant is a platform for contestants to portray their true selves. Similar to the famous ‘balls’ featured in the landmark documentary film Paris is Burning, events like these provide a safe environment, a support network, and above all, a sense of community for trans individuals in South Africa. Inspired by the iconic film Priscilla - Queen of the Desert, Gunther teamed up with several pageant participants to co-create a series of portraits on a salt pan outside of Cape Town. All the outfits were designed and made by the contestants themselves and would be worn for the pageant several days later.
ON SHOW DURING UNSEEN — Moritz Karweick: "My sculptural artistic practice could best be described as adherence to the concept of continual progress and change. I‘m deeply intrigued by the transformational qualities and possibilities of form, matter, and space. To highlight those interests, I try to create spatial situations that capture growth and change. Sculpture needs to exist in different spaces. It connects these spaces and has a kind of memory. To me the process of creating a sculpture might start in my studio, it might continue in the presentation of a work in an exhibition space, and it could continue to be alive in the mind, but it’s never a finished end product. There is always the chance of evolution, and it retains a part of all these environments.“
During Unseen (17-19 September), Galerie Mirko Mayer will show work by Moritz Karweick. In his working process Karweick pushed the technical possibilities of firing ceramics to their limits to produce his recent sculptures. In his sculptures, Karweick investigates the interplay between materials, forms, and constructions. His works reflect the emergence of the sculpture, the process of creation, and the multi-layered questions as to what a sculpture really is. Following this concept, the artist does not create with a concrete image of the sculpture in mind that just needs to brought from idea to ex*****on, rather he allows his interaction with the materials to influence the creative process and also shape the work. Additionally, Karweick uses the artistic medium of photography to formulate further questions regarding the investigation of space. The plasticity of reality is thus being captured on paper and displayed simultaneously alongside the spatial work, allowing for a reflective play on the artist’s intentions.
NU TE ZIEN — Nikomachi Karakostanoglou: "Ik geloof dat er een hedendaagse Griekse identiteit is die momenteel wordt ontwikkeld, waarbij leden van een nieuwe generatie een bepaalde esthetiek delen; ze zien dingen op hun eigen manier. Dat betekent ook dat er een bepaald Grieks element ontwikkeld wordt, dat op verschillende manieren kan worden gezien en geïnterpreteerd. Bijvoorbeeld het gebruik van uitbundige kleuren, of de manieren waarop deze kunstenaars de zee en haar kleuren interpreteren."
De Griekse kunstenaar Nikomachi Karakostanoglou toont haar werk momenteel in de tentoonstelling 'State of mind. State of being' in Galerie Mirko Mayer (tot eind maart), in een duotentoonstelling met Ola Kolehmainen. Karakostanoglou studeerde beeldhouwkunst en openbare kunst in Londen en werkte drie jaar in Shanghai. Ze is momenteel werkzaam in Athene, waar ze werkt aan tekeningen die minimalistisch ogen, maar doordrenkt zijn van maximalisme. Ze wordt daarbij geïnspireerd door haar culturele achtergrond en haar achtergrond als beeldhouwer. Inhoudelijk wordt haar werk ook beïnvloed door de rol van licht in spiritualiteit. Ze gebruikt daarbij vaak materialen die ze tijdens haar reizen verzamelde. Zo gebruikte ze zand uit Chili uit de Atacama-woestijn, waar ze een maand lang een residentie volgde. Het gebruik van de kleur bordeauxrood in deze werken heeft een symbolische betekenis: in de christelijke symboliek wordt de kleur gebruikt om verschillende elementen uit de bijbel aan te duiden; het is de kleur van de Heilige Geest en het verwijst naar het verhaal over Jezus waarin hij water in wijn veranderde.
ON SHOW NOW — Ola Kolehmainen: “Most of the time, I don’t feel like a photographer. I work with light, colour and space. For me, there is not so much difference between a church and a museum. Of course, the purpose and context is different, but how I sense the space and how I want to work with it is very close to churches. There’s a bit of a sublime element, a bit sacral. The main difference is the light, because mosques and churches allow light to come in and museums don’t.”
Finnish photographer Ola Kolehmainen became known for his minimalistic close ups of architectural details including surfaces and patterns; from steel and tiles to glass. For a long time, he was particularly fascinated with the work of the revered modernists, like Mies van der Rohe and Alvar Aalto. By focusing on details, Kolehmainen wants us to cherish the materials and forms, and to rethink how a building is perceived. For his newer work, Kolehmainen found inspiration in the architecture of historical buildings (like museums) and sacred spaces. His work is currently on show in the exhibition "State of mind. State of being” (a duo exhibition with Nikomachi Karakostanoglou) in Galerie Mirko Mayer until the end of March. Kolehmainen actively strives for a kind of artistic neutrality, embracing all these spaces - whether it’s a mosque, museum, synagogue, church, basilica or cathedral - with the same mindset. Yet, shooting his projects is often not as easy as it sounds: his project surrounding religious buildings took years of careful planning and dealing with bureaucratic institutions and in some cases, it even required an incognito stake out in advance, in which he took notes on the patterns of the changing light. Through techniques of fragmentation and deconstruction, Kolehmainen gains a sense of abstraction in many of his work, but he does not use any kind of digital manipulation. In the end result, Kolehmainen manages to capture the sublime essence of these spaces.
Micha Cattaui: "Most of my works are either political or social commentaries, or basically poking at consumerism. I like to be somewhat controversial and critical of our times, which is what I believe is what art should be about; it should be a reflection of our times. But as an artist, I hate having to explain because I would rather people see what they want to see and then sometimes they see it completely differently than I do, which, by the way, I like.” Swiss photographer Micha Cattaui lives in Greece, which is reflected in his work: he combines icons from the classic Greek (Hellenic) civilisation with pop culture and symbols of mass consumerism. It’s a way of reimagining what Antiquity 2.0 would look like, if the famous gods, philosophers and heroes would come back to life in our contemporary society. Would they consider it an improvement? For this work, he gave this classic-looking statue a mask like Hannibal Lecter (from the movie The Silence of the Lambs), in others he adds items like a hamburger or a mobile phone. Socrates, who was famously sentenced to death by drinking a cup of poison hemlock because he was “corrupting the youth”, is shown here with a gag ball (in a piece with the name “Corrupting the youth”), adding new meaning to the word. Cattaui's work was on show in the booth of Galerie Mirko Mayer / m-projects during Unseen 2018.
Aufgrund der Verlängerung des Lockdown in Deutschland bleiben auch die Galerien weiterhin geschlossen. Wir verschieben unseren 11. K1 Galerien-Rundgang um zwei Wochen und bleiben optimistisch, dass wir ab Februar wieder öffnen dürfen.
Die neuen Daten: Samstag 13. Februar von 11-20h und Sonntag 14. Februar von 11-16h.
Bis dahin wird trotz allem fleißig weiter gearbeitet und alle Galerien freuen sich über Unterstützung durch Besuche ihrer Webseiten, Online-Shops und Social Media Feeds! Denn ohne Kunst und Kultur wird’s still!
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