DISTRACTING SURFACE
curated by Antonio Catelani
Künstlerhaus Palais Thurn und Taxis
Gallusstrasse 10 - Bregenz
22/11/2013 - 29/12/2013
Olafur Eliasson, Matt Mullican, Giulio Paolini, Riccardo Previdi, Karin Sander, Sara Sizer, Sophie Tottie
The title -distracting surface- points to an exhibition that investigates the theme of the surface, as a responsive space and an essential element in the creation of the image. This analysis has involved global considerations about the constituent aspects of painting and drawing, paying particular attention to the methods and actions involved in revealing this specific element. And it has done so through an unorthodox, digressive use of the medium.
The “distracted” surface is deflected and shifted, and the “sign” that defines it is neither solely nor exclusively what is produced by the artist. It also refers to what, through chance actions, influences the final outcome through a variety of different events and situations. The investigation thus focuses on an analysis of the painting surface and, by extension, of all other possible surfaces, as places of appearance or “screens” onto which images are projected. Viewed in terms of its two-dimensionality, the surface leaves no room for any kind of perspective illusionism or imitative mimesis but rather, through a relationship of analogy between art and world, it appears as its own reality, autonomous and self-significant. The perceptive element generated by the work of art ultimately becomes the threshold that leads us into further dimensional spaces, both cognitive and intuitive, which define the act of art and the viewer-work relationship as a particular cognitive process of reality.
By elective affinity, the curator – himself an artist – has invited seven other artists with whom he has had ties for longer or shorter periods of time. Even though they have been working for years in a vast range of areas, at times adopting different or even quite distant approaches, here they have come together and worked on personal investigations of the surface. The presence/absence of an “eighth” artist is thus plain to see: even though he abstains from taking part in the exhibition with his own works, he nevertheless points to the place of a possible coming together. Like the curator, all the artists live and work in Berlin, with the exception of Giulio Paolini, who lives in Turin.
Specially created for the Künstlerhaus in Bregenz, the exhibition will include a series of works, selected with the artists themselves, in some cases never previously exhibited, or specially made for the exhibition spaces of the Palais Thurn und Taxis, which is home to the Künstlerhaus. An essay by the curator, outlining the particular nature of this exhibition and of the artists present, will be published in English and German in a special catalogue, together with a selection of illustrations for each artist, including the works on display.
curated by Antonio Catelani
Künstlerhaus Palais Thurn und Taxis
Gallusstrasse 10 - Bregenz
22/11/2013 - 29/12/2013
Olafur Eliasson, Matt Mullican, Giulio Paolini, Riccardo Previdi, Karin Sander, Sara Sizer, Sophie Tottie
The title -distracting surface- points to an exhibition that investigates the theme of the surface, as a responsive space and an essential element in the creation of the image. This analysis has involved global considerations about the constituent aspects of painting and drawing, paying particular attention to the methods and actions involved in revealing this specific element. And it has done so through an unorthodox, digressive use of the medium.
The “distracted” surface is deflected and shifted, and the “sign” that defines it is neither solely nor exclusively what is produced by the artist. It also refers to what, through chance actions, influences the final outcome through a variety of different events and situations. The investigation thus focuses on an analysis of the painting surface and, by extension, of all other possible surfaces, as places of appearance or “screens” onto which images are projected. Viewed in terms of its two-dimensionality, the surface leaves no room for any kind of perspective illusionism or imitative mimesis but rather, through a relationship of analogy between art and world, it appears as its own reality, autonomous and self-significant. The perceptive element generated by the work of art ultimately becomes the threshold that leads us into further dimensional spaces, both cognitive and intuitive, which define the act of art and the viewer-work relationship as a particular cognitive process of reality.
By elective affinity, the curator – himself an artist – has invited seven other artists with whom he has had ties for longer or shorter periods of time. Even though they have been working for years in a vast range of areas, at times adopting different or even quite distant approaches, here they have come together and worked on personal investigations of the surface. The presence/absence of an “eighth” artist is thus plain to see: even though he abstains from taking part in the exhibition with his own works, he nevertheless points to the place of a possible coming together. Like the curator, all the artists live and work in Berlin, with the exception of Giulio Paolini, who lives in Turin.
Specially created for the Künstlerhaus in Bregenz, the exhibition will include a series of works, selected with the artists themselves, in some cases never previously exhibited, or specially made for the exhibition spaces of the Palais Thurn und Taxis, which is home to the Künstlerhaus. An essay by the curator, outlining the particular nature of this exhibition and of the artists present, will be published in English and German in a special catalogue, together with a selection of illustrations for each artist, including the works on display.
