Month: November 2007

Eske Kath Gravity @ Mikael Andersen


The exhibition presents a series of new works by Eske Kath that each unfolds a reflexion on nature and the forces of nature’s interaction with our lives. The works depict the well-ordered existence that is influenced by the forces of nature and examines the paradox between the frailty of human civilization and our fascination of nature’s inherent beauty.

If the force of gravity did not exist everything would appear weightless. The mists of the universe would not have condensed into galaxies with twinkling stars and circling planets. The earth and its life would not have existed. Not even the elements that we as humans consist of would have been formed. But even though it is a fundamental human condition to be subjugated to the force of gravity we as modern human beings still find it difficult to comprehend the basic nature of gravitation. However, in his artistic practice Kath seeks to comprehend the incomprehensible, to control the incontrollable and to depict the infinite universe on the delimited picture plane of the painting. He depicts the force of gravity as an all dominating law of nature that contains both creative and destructive powers and whose constant influence on human existence continues to fill us with fascination and amazement.

Shining suns of gold, floating skeletons, dancing death’s head moths and twinkling starry skies meet the beholder in Kath’s new paintings, collages and sculptures. The works depict the force of gravity as a metaphor of the incontrollable conditions that are inflicted on our lives. With a mixture of fascination and fear, human beings – and art – have always been attracted towards the phenomena of nature: For example in the religious motifs of Doomsday in Baroque art or in the depiction of human powerlessness faced with the dramatic dimensions and tremendous forces of nature in art from the Romantic period. Eske Kath’s colourful and visually fascinating works inscribe themselves in this art historical tradition. His works mix a formally modern idiom and a long historical tradition of artistic adaptations of nature.

The works of Eske Kath take their point of departure in a figurative idiom. The depiction of natural phenomena contains a series of recognizable elements which enable us to read the motifs of the paintings. But at the same time the paintings appear as abstract surface paintings. The motifs are simplified and strictly stylized in their

Mikael Andersen

A K Dolven bring me back


Anne Katrine Dolven (born 1953) is one of Norway’s most widely known artists internationally. She lives in London and the Lofoten Islands, and her paintings, video works, films and photographs have been displayed not only in important European galleries of latest contemporary art but also in leading museums and art hall venues in different parts of the world.

Dolven chooses her medium in accordance with the questions that engender the work and the answers that they call for. For works requiring a figure she chooses film, video or the photograph, while paintings are better suited to addressing abstract questions.

The narrative element of Dolven’s videos is mostly scant: an individual, visually strong, repeated or continuing event, with an emotional charge that can be humorous, erotic, dramatic or reflective – or all of these at the same time. Although there is no “need” to view her works from beginning to end, the more time they are given, the deeper the viewing experience will be and the greater the number of possible interpretations that will emerge. The works may also contain art-historical references, which, however, do not necessarily have to be recognized in order to understand the works.

In the present exhibition Dolven displays two photographs: Girls’ Room, in which an old woman is fleeing reality into the protected world of her childhood, and Arthur’s Room, which is a portrait of a man although he is not seen in the picture. She also presents a video work of three projections in which a young woman is carried headfirst through a city in the morning. This, too, is a kind of return to the state of childhood; other people are taking one where they choose and the hurried morning passers-by pay no attention. Here, as often in Dolven’s works, there is a kind of an inexplicable surrealistic mood, while the group carrying the girl ma, in its composition bring to mind, for example, The Raft of the Medusa by Géricault.

Toon Aerts and Nicolas Karakatsanis


Industries for the blind – 08.11-06.12.07

Photography by Toon Aerts and Nicolas Karakatsanis

Opening reception: Thursday 8/11/2007 at 18h00
21h00: “Drums are for parades”, live concert

MICHAEL SCHMIDT


MICHAEL SCHMIDT
PHOTOGRAPHY
VERNISSAGE 8 NOVEMBER, 17.00–20.00

Galerie Nordenhake is very pleased to present the first solo exhibition in Sweden of German artist Michael Schmidt, one of Germany’s most important post-war photographers in the social and documentary field. Schmidt, who was born in 1945 and is self-taught, has exhibited widely in the international sphere, including two solo shows at MoMA, New York, where he also has a major upcoming retrospective.
Michael Schmidt first gained attention in 1984 with Berlin – Kreuzberg, a series of photographs of the neighborhood where he still lives. In many of his works he explores the architecture of urban landscapes, depicting apartment blocks, office buildings, as well as its inhabitants in an austere documentary style. Schmidt shows an excellence in black and white photography, as well as using the concept of series or sequences as a tool to generate an aesthetic vision.
The meticulously composed black and white photographs, with their rich nuances, come from a number of different series, including Irgendwo, Berlin – Kreuzberg, Waffenruhe, Stadtbilder and Berlin nach 1945. Typically for his Modus Operandi, Schmidt conflates architectural and landscape photographs with portraits and shots of seemingly unimportant details. It is only through the arrangement in groups – the interplay and dialogue between the images – that the individual images acquire their distinct meaning and the relation between spatial environment and individual biography comes into view.

Michael Schmidt has exhibited internationally in various prestigious contexts. Shows include Berlin Biennial for Contemporary Art (2006), Lindenau – Museum, Altenburg (2006), The National Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo (2005), Kunstverein Hanover (2005), Tate Modern (2003), MoMA (solo exhibition, 1996 and 1988, group, 2001 and 2000) , Museum Ludwig, Cologne (2001) and Sprengel Museum, Hannover (2000). Schmidt has realised several book publications with his works. Available are: “Irgendwo”, Köln 2005; “Berlin nach 45“, Göttingen 2005; “Frauen“, Köln 2000; “Landschaft – Waffenruhe – Selbst – Menschenbilder (Ausschnitte)“, Münster 1998 und “EIN-HEIT“, Berlin 1996