A Retrospective of Tomorrow’s Artists

A Retrospective of Tomorrow’s Artists

In his works Garten (2010) and Berg (2012), Wataru Murakami plays with the question of presence and absence, inherent to photography. By leaving brush strokes on the surface of the picture, he retransforms the photograph into the realm of originality and subjectivity that is normally linked to painting. The oscillation between absence and presence is raised by Johanna Kotlaris as well. In her series Silence is not a feeling (2011), she presents pictures that embody the idea of silence. Silence becomes a “passive” and pensive image that refers to a past action that has been captured by the camera.

Jan Erbelding’s series Fotos von Glas (2011) plays with the understanding of photography as a trace of something real, but most of all with the question of visibility and invisibility. The photographed glass-objects remain invisible; only their edges, as subtle lines, denote the forms of the glass panels. One could say that it is not the object itself that is pictured, but its outer edges. As Erbelding’s work, Claire Bamplekou’s sculpture Untitled 1 (Pin) (2011) simultaneously plays with emptiness and matter. Central to this work is the rendering of what is almost invisible and cannot be fully captured – the slippery essence of being. The light entering through the window reveals the forms of the sculpture. Whilst exploring it, the original form becomes more and more abstract, and extracts itself from a definite interpretation. (In)visibility is also central to Susanne Lanckowsky’s work Index (Six Lines of Dust) (2012). For this exhibition, she fixed the dust found in the space to its skirting boards. “House dust” consists of skin’s particles, hairs and fibres and is an unavoidable trace of a person. Her intervention makes those invisible traces visible to the spectator.

The work Parasitic Traces (2010) is the result of a research Sara Martín undertook on the tight relation between living and leaving traces in one specific place. Comparing the house as a host and the tenant as a parasite, the series not only documents the absence of the presence of the previous tenant, but also the traces that are left behind by natural processes, i. e. humidity.

Superflous I (2012) displays the evolution of an intervention in the countryside of southern Italy, from winter to summertime. Annika Kappner alludes to the nature of attachments and linkages and the interplay of what they touch, be it tangible or immaterial . The work deals with the temporality of traces left by those connections and their interaction with external forces.

In Take one Leave one (2010, ongoing), Claudia de la Torre works with what is left behind. She asks the public to leave a personal image behind, and take one from the pile on the ground. The adding and subtracting of images and their related story contribute to the continuous development of the artwork. What is left behind is then collected and transformed in a book. All the images and their specific story are brought into relation to each other and thus recreate a new story.

In 156mal1 [Schleifpapier] (2011) Hanna Schaich confronts us with the painful renewal of herself. Scratching her body with sandpaper, the artist removes part of her skin fostering the growth of new one; this process of renewal does not go on without leaving a trace of itself behind, in this case the wounds the artist inflicts herself. With the work I’m the drawing, you are the reality (2010), Pedro Matias tries to re-define himself. By working with his own body and re-drawing his own personal facial contours, the artist attempts to grasp his changing identity and to fix it. The „remnant“ of such an ongoing process of development is a constituent element of Lisa Peters’ sculpture Membrana ex mihi / Die Haut an mir (2012). The work consists of birch bark and emphasizes the aspect of maturation that is inherent to the ongoing development of one’s personality.

Collection of Words Searched by Google is a pictorial ‘dictionary’ compiled by EunHee Lee in 2011. Entering some specific words, the artist has collected random images on Google Image presenting the various contributions and significations people have left behind in the search engine.

In his painting Ohne Titel (2012), Maximilian Arnold attempts to leave a trace on canvas of his reaction towards the ever-increasing images and information provided by the new media. He applies acryl and lack on a polyester canvas with a squeegee. In this way, he reflects on the gesture of painting. Ohne Titel contains traces of an older work of the artist. Kriz Olbricht’s Konsole (Kasimir) (2011) is also concerned with the medium of painting. Made out of industrial material, its title is a reference to the History of Art and everyday activities.

Anja Braun’s work Strich auf Papier auf Wand (2010/2012) is exactly what the title says; and even more: the stroke on the paper and the wall is the residue of a performance that the artist did before the opening. Hence, the work acts at the same time as a “moment” and documentation of a process, and – as in photography – becomes a testimony of a past action.

curated with Karin Anzivino

Text: Ferial Nadja Karrasch and Karin Anzivino