GROUP SHOW

Phillip Allen, Michael Bauer, Dirk Braeckman, Maria José Burki, Alexandre Christiaens
Frances Goodman, William Kentridge, Moshekwa Langa, Florian Maier-Aichen
Juan Muñoz, Nikos Navridis, Lisa Sanditz, Jeffrey Vallance, Boyd Webb

October 5 – November 9, 2006

Painted on to board, Phillip Allen’s (born London 1967) paintings are lined at the top and bottom of each work with thick encrusted layers of paint, which make the artists palette part of the fabric of the painting itself. Referencing a long lineage of painting styles and gestures, Allen mould a range of patterns and shapes into a carefully constructed illusionary space.

The black and white photographs of the Belgian Dirk Braeckman (born in Ghent,1958) are the expressions of the artist’s momentary experience with a strong autobiographical character. With material drawn from the artist’s immediate surroundings, the works of Braeckman show the pursuit of an objective representation of what surrounds us expressed by the artist’s desire for the outmost abstraction of what is depicted.

The video works of the Swiss Marie José Burki’s (born in 1961- lives and works in Belgium) seek the possibility of locating a space for reflection and contemplation within our fast-paced electronic culture. Animals as subject matter are central to her recent work. Works like the piece “Les Chiens’ which is shown at the gallery, explore the relationship between spectator and image.

The Belgian Alexandre Christiaens (born in 1962) is concerned with the concept of the voyage to "the other place", both real and imaginary. His black and white photographs of landscapes and sea views, taken in several journeys are enigmatic and mysterious. At this show are also presented photographs from Greece such as from Mount Athos and Kythera.

The works of the South African Frances Goodman (born in Johannesburg in 1975) investigate the fine line that exists where daily routines become obsessions. Incorporating mixed media, she mainly works with words and language, to explore issues such as relationships, violence, personal impressions and memories.

The work of the best known South African William Kentridge (born in Johannesburg, 1955) tracks a personal route across the fraught legacy of apartheid and colonialism through an innovative use of charcoal drawing, prints, collages, stop-animation, film and theater. Kentridge sees his work as rooted in Johannesburg - the city in which he was born and continues to work today.

Another South African, Moshekwa Langa (born 1975) who lives and works in Amsterdam, is moving in more than a single medium. Incorporating rags and threads, books and maps, sticks and stones, debris and documents, he brings together potentially disparate social and physical worlds which highlight the flexibility of identity.

The works of Florian Maier Aichen (born in Stuttgart 1973- lives and works in California) consist of colour and black and white images digitally manipulated. What causes them to be uncanny and disturbing is that one usually cannot tell what has been technologically altered.

The exhibition presents also drawings and a sculpture by the famous “Conversation Pieces” by the late Juan Muñoz (Born Madrid 1953- 2001). Figurative pieces, incorporating recognizable objects and human figures, the works of Muñoz, have a grotesque element. The figures of the sculpture interact with their setting to generate a mood or narrative. His works invite interpretation, but their meaning is never fully explained, as the artist strove to create an enduring sense of mystery.

The Californian artist Jeffrey Vallance (born 1995) uses his own irrationally rational observations and years of research to connect paranormal phenomena with popular culture. With a shrewd sense of humor, Vallance explores all aspects of American culture with bizarre logic focusing on the relationship between the religious and the secular. The artist presents a haunting world where science, religion, politics, celebrity, art and idle speculation mingle in the morass of mass culture.

The images of the New Zealand photographer Boyd Webb (born 1947) have an unruly quality. His technical mastery of photography allows him to create artworks which the viewer must accept as real, works that incorporate enigmatic, uncomfortable and challenging qualities. Concentrating on realistic scenes with curious details and odd juxtapositions of objects, he creates images, more readily associated with Surrealism than any accepted photographic genre.

The photographic piece “Breath” is a new work by Nikos Navridis (born 1958) who is working during the past few years on the idea of breath as a force with tremendous energy that is not diffused but is constantly shared.