Ausstellungstext / Kuratiert von Ed Broner / Miami USA /
THE GROUP EXHIBITION COOKING EGGS REMAINS TRUE TO THE PHILOSOPHY OF BREACH GALLERY. NO DISTINCTION IS MADE BETWEEN SELF-TAUGHT ARTISTS AND UNIVERSITY GRADUATES, NOR DO DIFFERENT GENERATIONS MEET. THE STYLE UNITES THE ARTISTS, IT IS A CONTEMPORARY PAINTING THAT DEVELOPS SURREAL VISUAL LANGUAGES BETWEEN CONSCIOUS NAIVETY, COMIC AND POP-CULTURAL MEDIA. IT IS SOMETIMES POLITICAL, SOMETIMES HUMOROUS, SOMETIMES PLAYFUL. THERE IS NO STRICT DOGMA.
EDGAR SERRANO’S VISUAL WORLDS CAN BE DESCRIBED AS COMIC CUBISM, OR THEY RECALL THE COLLAGES OF DADAISM IN NOSTALGIC CHILDHOOD MEMORIES OF CARTOON FRIENDS AND ENEMIES. THE REFERENCES ARE DIRECTED AT A WESTERN „SCREEN CULTURE“ THAT HAS BURNED ITSELF INTO OUR EVERYDAY LIVES AS A FIXED STANDARD. IN IT, THAT IS, BETWEEN GAMES, MERCHANDISING, KITSCH, AND COMICS, SERRANO SEEKS ALLEGORIES AND SYMBOLS FOR THE PREJUDICES AND XENOPHOBIA OF CONTEMPORARY AMERICA.
DAVID DJORDJEVIC CREATES DRAGONS AND PAINTS DEITIES. IT CAN ALSO BE ANIMALS, MONSTERS AND MYTHICAL CREATURES, SO AGAIN DEITIES IN OTHER GUISES. A SPIRITUAL HORROR CULT, BUT NOT THERE TO SCARE. THE SELF-TAUGHT ARTIST PAINTS „THE EXCESS OF EMOTIONS THAT OCCUPY MY MIND, BALANCING BETWEEN A DUALITY OF MOMENTS OF EXTREME SPONTANEITY AND LONG PLANNED GESTURES.“ HE OFTEN SQUEEZES PAINT FROM A TUBE DIRECTLY ONTO THE CANVAS OR PAINTS WITH HIS FINGERS. RELIEFS OF BONES, EYES, TEETH, AND FUR EMERGE, WITH LINES OF COLOR ABOVE THEM, LEADING THE UNDERLYING CHAOS OF COLOR TO FIGURATIVE NARRATION.
AT FIRST GLANCE, THE WORKS OF NATHANIEL BOLARINWA ARE SHRILL POP PORTRAITS, SITUATED BETWEEN HIP-HOP AND EXOTICISM. BUT NOT ONLY THE COMMERCIAL ACCESSORIES INDICATE A CRITICAL APPROACH; THE FACES, ARMS, AND HANDS OF THE DARK-SKINNED FIGURES ALSO HAVE A DISTURBING EFFECT. SKIN, MUSCLES AND SINEWS HAVE GROWN OUT OF TREES. BRANCHES, TRUNKS OR ROOTS WIND INTO EACH OTHER HERE, EVERY NOW AND THEN A GREEN LEAF STICKS OUT. THE TREE PEOPLE WEAR COOL CLOTHES, SIT CASUALLY, DRINK COKE, LEAN AGAINST A WALL OR CARRY A FLOWER. HOWEVER, YOU CAN’T AVERT YOUR EYES FROM THEIR FACES, YOU HAVE TO LOOK CLOSER. THEY ARE EXPOSED TO VOYEURISM, ALTHOUGH THEY TRY TO CAMOUFLAGE THEMSELVES TO AN EVERYDAY POP.
USING CLOTHES, BED SHEETS AND OTHER SOFT FABRICS, ZIWEI GONG CREATES TEXTILE ART IN THE STYLE OF COLLAGE AESTHETICS. „THEY CONVEY A PLEASANT AND DOMESTIC FEELING“ TELLS THE ARTIST. SHE IS CONCERNED WITH INTERIORS AND EVERYDAY ACTIVITIES THAT PEOPLE DO FOR THEMSELVES. COOKING FOOD OR PROVIDING MUSICAL ACCOMPANIMENT ARE AMONG THEM. HER EXPERIENCES IN LOCKDOWN AND QUARANTINE INSPIRED HER. BUT THE APARTMENT, THE OBJECTS AND THE PEOPLE IN BETWEEN ALSO LED HER TO A NEW FORMAL LANGUAGE THAT SLIDES INTO THE ABSTRACT.
TURKISH ARTIST ERKUT TERLIKSIZ CREATES PROTAGONISTS WHO ALL STEP ONTO THE STAGE QUITE BATTERED. EYES DROOP, CHEEKS TURN, AND PUPILS BECOME LARGE BLACK SMARTIES. HERE, TOO, ONE CAN THINK OF A CUBIST APPROACH, BUT TERLIKSIZ’S IS DREAMIER, GENTLER, AND NOT EXECUTED AS DECONSTRUCTION. THEY ARE DRAWN BY EMOTION, BUT DO NOT BREAK. LIKE BRAVE ANTI-HEROES, THEY OVERCOME EVERY IDEAL OF BEAUTY AND FACE LIFE ANEW AGAIN AND AGAIN.
CURATOR ED BRONER CHOSE THE TITLE „COOKING EGGS“ IN REFLECTION OF HIS OWN SITUATION. HE AND THE BREACH GALLERY STAND FOR NEW DISCOVERIES. IN THIS FIGURE OF SPEECH, THEIR POSITIONS ARE THE EGGS THAT NEED TO BE CAREFULLY PREPARED. IN THE PROCESS, THE FUTURE REMAINS EXCITING. WHAT HAPPENS WHEN THE EGGS ARE COOKED? HOW DOES THE PUBLIC REACT TO THEM? A GROUP EXHIBITION ALSO SETS NEW REFERENCES TO EACH OTHER, COMMONALITIES APPEAR, BUT CONTRASTS ALSO BECOME CLEAR. HOW DO ZIWEI GON’S QUIET DOMESTIC CREATURES BEHAVE WHEN THEY ENCOUNTER DAVID DJORDJEVIC’S NOISY FABLE FIGURES? DO THE TREE FACES OF NATHANIEL BOLARINWA BECOME MORE ABSTRACT OR CONCRETE NEXT TO THE PAINTERLY DISPLACED FACES OF ERKUT TERLIKSIZ? AND DOES THE PAINTED COLLAGE STYLE OF EDGAR SERRANO CONNECT ALL POSITIONS? SEE FOR YOURSELF!
Larissa Kikol 