HENNING STRASSBURGER – HIGH

Posted on 2024-01-08

In the exhibition HIGH, Sies + Höke presents new works by the Berlin-based artist Henning Strassburger. Known as one of the leading protagonists of his generation in the discourse on abstract painting, Strassburger integrates the insights gained from his previous works into a new cycle of paintings. Since 2020, representative elements are clearly recognisable in his series of grey paintings. These seemingly abstract lines are representative amplifications of figurative ink drawings, enlarged by the artist via projections directly onto the canvas. The supposedly spontaneous gesture of the line became a calculated and critical questioning of abstract painting. Christian Malycha described this as “manipulative markmaking”. The critical attitude towards pure gesture led Strassburger to an analytical abstraction that, with references to an external narration, elevated the image beyond the depicted to a more narrative level. The artist comments: “Gestural painting is only sexy in combination with youthfulness”.

Opposite – Happy Urban Oasis, 2024

Exhibition runs through to May 11th, 2024

Sies + Höke Galerie
Poststrasse 2+3
40213 Düsseldorf
Germany

www.sieshoeke.com

  

IDA EKBLAD – STRANGE FREEDOMS

Posted on 2024-01-01

Highlighting Ekblad’s concept of collective nostalgia as well as her powerful expression of colours, distinct vibrancy and spontaneous forms, the exhibition brings together two monumental sculptures and a new series of paintings.

Opposite – STRANGE FREEDOMS NEVER CHANGE, 2024

Exhibition runs through to May 25th, 2024

Galerie Max Hetzler
46 & 57, rue du Temple
75004 Paris
France

www.maxhetzler.com

  

BENDIX HARMS – PORTRAITS: WHY ME?

Posted on 2023-12-25

The sixth exhibition by German artist Bendix Harms at Anton Kern Gallery presents twelve portrait paintings. The subjects range from Andy Warhol to Mike Tyson, from Mamon, the cat to a self-portrait with a blackbird. They are the result of the artist’s constant interrogation of the world. Why is at the beginning of every painting, and every why is given an appropriate response.

Opposite – Bendix Diebenkorn (When Content meets Form), 2024

Exhibition runs through to May 18th, 2024

Anton Kern Gallery
16 East 55th Street
10022 New York

www.antonkerngallery.com

  

JIM LAMBIE – LIQUID HEAD: BODY AND SOUL

Posted on 2023-12-18

In Liquid Head: Body and Soul, Lambie presents a variety of new works including five individual and two multi-panel Metal Box sculptures made from conjoined aluminum and polished steel panels; a lens-sculpture made with found sunglass lenses that are fused together using traditional stained glass techniques and solder materials; a mattress fully covered in a vast range of sewn-on buttons; a modified guitar amp bearing the title of the show Liquid Head; three Psychedelic Soulsticks, bamboo canes covered in multicolored yarn and concealing secret objects of the artist’s choice, each one combined with a painted panel made my transferring deep-hued make-up from the artist’s body onto canvas, a new process Lambie puts to use. All this is embedded in an enormous, all-encompassing vinyl floor and staircase installation in silver chrome called The Strokes.

Opposite – Metal Box (Trondheim), 2024

Exhibition runs through to May 18th, 2024

Anton Kern Gallery
16 East 55th Street
10022 New York

www.antonkerngallery.com

  

ZSÓFIA KERESZTES – IN ETHYLENE ARMS

Posted on 2023-08-28

Zsófia Keresztes is a leading figure in contemporary Hungarian art, where her sculptural style is characterized by amorphous, anthropomorphic forms, reminiscent of both surrealist flesh and post-human, virtual bodies. Significant for her work in recent years is the use of glass mosaics within her sculptures. Keresztes manages to free the rigid lines and grid inherent in the mosaic structure, subordinating them to her fluid forms, which appear to be in constant flux. In particular, one of the primary motivations for incorporating mosaic into her works was the glossy sheen of the glass, which reminded the artist of the shiny, smooth surface of internal organs. Indeed, her sculptures are almost painfully reminiscent of flesh, organs, and fantastical, brutalized bodies, often bound in a suffocating embrace between tenderness and cannibalism. Although loaded with multiple meanings and references to mythological images and theoretical texts, her works are distinguished by a certain levity and elusiveness.

Opposite – Installation view

Exhibition runs through to November 11th, 2023

KÖNIG GALERIE
St. Agnes – Alexandrinenstr, 118-121
10969 Berlin
Germany

www.koeniggalerie.com

  

DERRICK ADAMS – COME AS YOU ARE

Posted on 2023-08-28

The exhibition’s title offers encouragement to be present without the need to conceal one’s true self, dreams, and aspirations—a prompt to shed the pressures of adaptation and conformity. Adams counters hackneyed narratives by presenting figures in moments of carefree leisure, inspired by his belief in the constructive power of scenes that uplift and support Black culture. Adding elements of fantastical daydreams along with a few icons familiar from previous series, he dramatizes lived experience and self-actualization in compositions that balance vivid and muted tones, flat planes and multidimensional space.

Opposite – Lookie Loos, 2023

Exhibition runs through to October 28th, 2023

Gagosian
456 North Camden Drive
CA 90210 Beverly Hills
USA

gagosian.com