ALAN CHARLTON - ULRICH RÜCKRIEM

February 11 – March 28, 2009

Alan Charlton was born in 1948, in Sheffield, England. He lives and works in London.
«I am an artist who makes a grey painting». Forever faithfull to this statement, Alan Charlton has been painting nothing but grey monochrome paintings since 1970.
Grey is the only tone he explores in order to create large paintings of outward clarity and consistency.
What he wants to achieve is to create paintings with no illusions, straightforward and urban in feel.
Through his grey canvases placed on the wall like mirrors, with abscence as the only reflection, a visitor can gradually discover a deliberate logic.
Charlton’s whole work is dedicated to monochromy and according to him grey is the only color that allows an endless pursuit.
Reduction to absolute simplicity unexpectedly turns into the outmost complexity, in his work.
His paintings seem simple and sparse at first, but looking at them they become more and more detailed, refined and provoking intense perception.
This conceptual approach clears the way for playfull experimentation.
According to the artist, grey is the best answer to all positive expression because it is above and beyond all other colors.

Born in Dusseldorf in 1938, Ulrich Rückriem is one of Germany's most eminent artists. He now lives in London.
Ruckriem is well known for his massive non-figurative, stone sculptures, clear in size, form and material.
He began his career as a stonecutter and worked from 1957 until 1959 for the restoration of Dome in Cologne.
During that time he realized that he was interested in the qualities and the handling of material itself rather than in producing a representation of a definite object. He decided to restrict himself and deal with the basic questions of volume, size, location and space.
It’s his belief that sculptures should be simple and that a piece of stone after being shaped, should imitate no secondary material.
Ruckriem works in several quarries, using each as a studio: in Tampere, Finland, in Vigo, Spain, in Vire, France, and in Anrochter, Germany. He is always in a constant movement: in quarries, roads, museums, cities and country sides - everywhere where he can find stones.
“I grew up with stone, as he says, and I love it more and more. Stone is enough for me”.
The stones he uses are rough-cut, smoothly fitted, and integrate drill-holes into a weighty yet curiously refined aesthetic. For him the significance of sculpture lies in the work process.
In his current show at Bernier-Eliades, he worked with stones from Anrochter, Germany.

The gallery is open Monday- Friday 10:30 – 20:00. Saturday 12:00 – 16:00.