ANNA BJERGER – SAND IN YOUR EYES

Posted on 2012-02-20

Anna Bjerger’s fascination is in the construction of an image. She works from photographs. Having found an image it might lie around her studio for some years while she absorbs its essence. The photographs she chose to work from for this show all have an inherent interference, either in the photographic process such as vaseline or coloured filters on the lens, or oil and turps stains from Bjerger’s studio. When painted, these disruptions cause the viewer to rethink the image and take a slower look.
 
The exhibition will feature a major new work, ‘Filter’, comprising an image of a woman holding a colour chart repainted 24 times on panels hung as a diamond grid. The repetition of a single motif, each treated with the same intensity, makes it impossible to relate to the panels as singular images. Their differences becomes virtues, their mistakes accepted, as it becomes more and more unclear what we are looking at.

Opposite – Inbetween, 2011

Exhibition runs through to March 17th, 2012

David Risley Gallery
Bredgade 65A
DK-1260
Copenhagen

www.davidrisleygallery.com

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HARALD KRÖNER – CUT

Posted on 2012-02-20

Kröner presents new large format coloured ink drawings from his series ‘Cut’ along with a group of much smaller works titled Schnittzeichnungen (sectional drawings).

Although different in size and appearance – the theme of ‘cutting’ unites both bodies of work. Like the editing process in filmmaking, ‘cut’, is used to generate ‘footage’-like material to be used later and determines what will eventually be seen or not.

Kröner’s starting point are two painted sheets of paper: A large backdrop within which a semi-transparent sheet is cut into strips and reversed so both painted sides face one another.

The mirrored painted sides generate a form of osmosis which challenges the artist to discover a new balance between chance and control. Who can know if beauty will (re)appear between the poles of chaos and order. The process allows for little forethought and the results unpredictable – it’s impossible for the artist to envisage what the semi-transparent sheet will produce once flipped. The pieces represent disruption, disorder and chaos that develop into more complex alignments. Kröner is interested in outwitting foresight and challenging the viewer’s perception.

Opposite – Cut #8, 2011

Exhibition runs through to March 24th, 2012

Bernhard Knaus Fine Art
Niddastrasse 841st Floor
60329 Frankfurt
Germany

www.bernhardknaus-art.de

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JOYCE PENSATO – BATMAN RETURNS

Posted on 2012-02-13

Joyce Pensato uses “Batman” as the predominant subject and inspiration for her paintings. “Batman” is a motif that first appeared in Pensato’s drawings as early as the mid-1970’s and has been used by the artist only periodically since, the last “Batman” painting, as singular work, having been executed in 1996. Pensato’s resurrection of this iconic image sixteen years later marks an additional shift in her practice as it will be the first time that she has added various colors to what until now has been a strictly black, white and silver painting palette. Pastel color has played a role in Pensato’s drawings over the years, but color in the paintings is new, and as with her drawings, the color element marks a layer within, simultaneously erased and darkened by the profuse and continual saturation of black and white enamel.

Alongside Pensato’s batman motif will be paintings and drawings incorporating her familiar cartoon imagery of clowns, Homer Simpson, Groucho Marx, Mickey Mouse, and a character the artist refers to as “The Juicer.” Furthermore, she will present assemblages of toys, ephemera, and stuffed animals throughout the gallery and will show as well approximately fifteen to twenty photographs of striking tableaux of the aforementioned elements taken by the artist at various times of day and night in her former studio. Through these old and new mediums,

Exhibition runs through to February 25th, 2012

Friedrich Petzel Gallery
537 West 22nd Street
New York
NY 10011

www.petzel.com

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FORMED THOUGHTS

Posted on 2012-02-13

Formed Thoughts explores the fundamental collaboration between maker and material in the forming of concepts and works. Curator Clare Twomey brings together work by artists Phoebe Cummings, Glithero (Tim Simpson & Sarah van Gameren) and Tracey Rowledge to explore the active dialogue that materials provoke in the conception of new work and in its physical formation.

Works on display will include new work in Glithero’s Burn Burn Burn series (previous work pictured), in which a flame travels over a path of flammable screen-printed paint, leaving behind it a charcoal trace which reveals the memory of a moment that has already passed. Phoebe Cummings’ Vanitas explores the possibilities of clay as a raw material, disregarding notions of ceramics as a studio-based practice and as permanent possessions. Her installation will be constructed on site at Jerwood Space, where the work will be left to disintegrate and be broken down over the course of the exhibition. Tracey Rowledge will create new work for the exhibition, drawing directly onto the gallery wall over a 10-day period.Her solid graphite wall drawing, Surface, creates a reflective plane that captures and subdues the light and the movement in the gallery space.

Opposite – Glithero, Burn Burn Burn, 2011

Exhibition runs through to February 26th, 2012

Jerwood Visual Arts
171 Union Street
London
SE1 OLN

www.jerwoodvisualarts.org

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JOAO PAULO FELICIANO – MONKEY BUSINESS

Posted on 2012-02-13

Under the title Monkey Business, the exhibition reveals a political, ironical stance that brings into question, once more, the position of the artist and the gallery within the universe of contemporary art. João Paulo Feliciano does not yield to the temptation of using a political discourse as expression of an activist or interventional action. On the contrary, he reveals his working processes using the gallery space as an extension of his daily activity as an artist and cultural producer. The exhibition is not built as a system of relations between different pieces but as a discourse that flows between the presentation of recent work and the appropriation of the space by displacing part of the imaginary contents of the artistís studio to the gallery. As if the exhibition was just one more moment in his daily life.

Exhibition runs through to March 7th, 2012

Cristina Guerra Contemporary Art
Rua Santo António à Estrela, 33
1350-291Lisbon
Portugal

www.cristinaguerra.com

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LUCIAN FREUD – PORTRAITS

Posted on 2012-02-06

Lucian Freud (1922 – 2011) was one of the most important and influential artists of his generation. Paintings of people were central to his work and this major exhibition, spanning over seventy years, is the first to focus on his portraiture.

Produced in close collaboration with the late Lucian Freud, the exhibition concentrates on particular periods and groups of sitters which illustrate Freud’s stylistic development and technical virtuosity. Insightful paintings of the artist’s lovers, friends and family, referred to by the artist as the ‘people in my life’, will demonstrate the psychological drama and unrelenting observational intensity of his work.

Featuring 130 works from museums and private collections throughout the world, some of which have never been seen before, this is an unmissable opportunity to experience the work of one of the world’s greatest artists.

Opposite – Reflection (Self-portrait), 1985

Exhibition runs through to May 27th, 2012

National Portrait Gallery
St Martin’s Place
London
WC2H 0HE

www.npg.org.uk

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