The annual summer group show FRESH! returns to JanKossen Contemporary, featuring works by 13 artists under the curatorial vision of “Order and Chaos: the World of the Enlightened”.
Artists have always played a role in voicing how the world is seen; they are critics disecting the concepts aesthetics, ideals of beauty, rationalism, tolerance and liberty. How do our artists see the world today? And what can we learn from their viewpoints ?
Artists are invited to explore and present their rendering of our world; to re-interpret what is considered truth (or not)and the realities around us. A diverse group of international emerging and established artists were selected, who demonstrate a variety of methods, media, use of materials and techniques employed.
Selected artists include Atsuko Chirikjian (USA), Eva Breitfuß (DE), Jarek Puczel (PL), Julie Rotblatt (USA), Matthew Mogle (USA), Michael Gatzke (DE), Michele Utley- Voigt (USA), Ryan Burns (USA), Soojin Choi (USA), Vanessa Kocking (USA), Ahron Weiner (USA), Mariela Lechin (USA) and Trey Abdella(USA).
Abstraction has a strong presence in this exhibition. A group of artists Vanessa Kocking, Atsuko Chirikjian, Eva Breitfuß, Julie Rotblatt, Mariela Lechin and Ryan Burns use various media to create landscapes and explore both spiritual and physical elements of the today’s world. Using ink on canvas, Kocking creates fluid alternative spaces resembling silent landscapes that emerge from experiences in a personal existential pursuit. Seeing herself as a medium for the expression of the unknown, Breitfuß’ delicate acrylic lines mirror her focus to explore, transform and transport energies of time and space. Burns’ artistic practice is research oriented where he investigate society’s relationship with the natural world using proxy indicators of climate change embodied by the growth rings of felled trees. Rotblatt works with various media with the aim to explore multiple dimensions of both the spiritual and physical within the mind-body connection. In a world that constantly attempts to choose between extremes, Lechin paintings reflect the idea that contradictions coexist harmoniously as one. Paying homage to cultural heritage, Chirikjian works are steeped in tradition with a background working in materials. A canvas is for Chirikjian a three-dimensional construct; building her own canvas through the layering materials such as thread, wire, net, bamboo, twigs, and cheesecloth.
Artists Michele Utley- Voigt, Matthew Mogle explore the human condition in relation to personal experiences, emotion, fate and form. Utley- Voigt’s powerful paintings is a visualization of our complex sense of self, which she translates into a kaleidoscope using complex and intelligent technique of multiple layered imagery. Mogle romanticizes narratives of the past, fused with his cynical and melancholic views of the present to explore the effects of chronic Lyme disease on the artist´s body.
Jarek Puczel and Michael Gatzke both introduce a strong psychological component in their artwork creating ambiguous moments of dimensional perception. Puczel’s painting capture a moment in time, evoking an emotional but calming emotion. Working in the same medium confined to a monochromatic palette, Gatzke invites the viewer to participate and contemplate within Gatzke’s atmospheric scenes.
As artists of the 21st century Sooji Choi, Ahron Weiner and Trey Abdella analyze society current issues. Weiner uses newspaper and journalistic media as a medium to criticise our society by opening a window into our collective consciousness. Conjoining realism and cartoons, Abdella creates cohesive scenes where cartoons are real and reality is distorted; offering us both an amusing yet disturbing interpretation of what is ailing in our society today. Distorting our sense of perception, Choi uses Representational imagery to tease our sense of reality where objects are dismantled, re-organised or dissected. Creating an almost surreal interpretation of objects, Choi demonstrates their instability and imperfections.
Arte Ponte 