Studio Photo Shoot! By Katherine York

I was lucky enough to have my wonderful friend Katherine York take a few shots of my studio recently for a few articles about the upcoming Open Studio event I am hosting during the DMY Berlin International Design Festival. She did such a gorgeous job! Check out more of her work on her website HERE. 

"I get the feeling, that you, are laughing at my face?"

Recently Seen / Deutsches Architektur Zentrum / Art Connect Berlin / Hamburger Bahnhof

I went the recent opening at DAZ – the Deutsches Architektur Zentrum for a show called Structural Studies, a collaboration between duo June 14, Toshihiko Mitsuya and Alex Schweder La. An interesting group of artists/architects with admirable practices individually, however the outcome of this project seems a little underwhelming. Using aluminum sheeting common to Toshihiko Mitsuya’s practice, the group created a large scale series of objects treating the materials with folding processes, weaving, etc exploring the possibilities of form, volume, space and egress. The combination of material and the treatment that the group employed lost some of the delicacy that Mitsuya achieves when working with the same material in a smaller scale, leaving some of the intentions for the objects unclear. However the contribution by artist/architect Schweder La is yet to come – Schweder La will intervene with the installation – using mold in some way I think. I am going to a round table discussion next week with the curator and contributing artists to hopefully get a better insight into the project. However each artist is worth checking out individually.  

DAZ Installation

DAZ Installation 

I also went to the Networking Breakfast organized by and hosted at the head quarters of ArtConnect Berlin in Neukölln. Fashion and lifestyle photographer Christoph Neumann presented a snap shot of his past and current projects. Artstars Nadja Sayej also gave a talk which can be heard online here – about her work with Artstars, some info and tips about Berlin and an insight into her program. 

Christoph Neumann 

The always informative and entertaining Nadja Sayej

And I also managed to get to the opening of the latest show at the Hamburger Bahnhof of New York artist Anthony McCall, called Five Minutes of Pure Sculpture. This is the first time the artist has presented a solo show in a German museum.

Hamburger Bahnhof - with permanent light installation by Dan Flavin

Entering into the exhibition space one is completely immersed in darkness – with only the light from the installation permeating the space. Throughout the large hall (which was formerly a train station) are a series of projections on both the floor and walls drawing linear forms in electric white light. Slowly billowing from various sources are gentle plumes of dry ice being haphazardly directed by invisible fans. As the dry ice passes through the shaft of light being projected it creates an ephemeral and constantly evolving architecture which the audience can view from the exterior and interior. McCall has been developing this series since the 70’s which intersect drawing, film, animation and sculpture. 

From inside one of the projections

Wall projection 

Floor/vertical projection 

And below is a little video I took from the interior of the work. 

And in other news from Berlin.............................

Hubert Gustav is turning into a moody teenager and spending far too much time online ......

However...what's that in the distance Carolyn?

Spring! The horniest season of all! I've never seen so much blatant displays of affection in the streets of Berlin and Ubahn make out sessions. 

Oder Fruling! Cherry blossoms in Gorlitzer Park.

And tulips in the studio......

Emerging Contemporaries / CRAFT ACT: Craft and Design Centre, Canberra, Australia

I am excited to present two new works at a group show entitled Emerging Contemporaries at CRAFT ACT which opened yesterday and runs until May 12. 

ABOUT THE EXHIBITION 

A Craft ACT: Craft and Design Centre curated exhibition of award winning graduating students and selected national emerging craft practitioners and designer makers that demonstrate exceptional talent in their chosen field. These emerging artists are representative of the next wave of professional artists who are exploring conceptually dynamic and innovative craft and design practice.

Artists: Christine Atkins, Sarah Carlson, David Cummins, Elizabeth Delfs, Callum Matheson, Brendan Murphy, Sarah Murphy, Jenny Papalexandris, Tom Skeehan, Belinda Smith, Graham Stutz, Amy Taylor, James Watt.

I am pleased to be supported by The Janet Holmes à Court Artist Grant for this exhibition. The Janet Holmes à Court Artist Grant is a NAVA initiative, made possible through the generous sponsorship of Janet Holmes à Court and the support of the Visual Arts Board, Australia Council for the Arts.

Craft ACT: Craft and Design Centre is supported by the ACT Government; and by the Australian Government through the Australia Council, its principal arts funding body, and by the Visual Arts and Craft Strategy, an initatve of the Australian, State and Territory Governments.

Exhibition Dates: 6 April – 12 May, 2012. 

Above: One of the works exhibited photographed in the winter sun of my studio!

Opening and Install Photos - DEVILS NIGHT, THE MORNING AFTER

An update from a previous blog about the exhibition DEVILS NIGHT, THE MORNING AFTER by Katherine York, see below are some images form the installation and opening night. And read more about the show HERE!

    

All images courtesy and copyright to 7daysisaweekend. 

Future Fibre - White Box Gallery / Queensland College of the Arts, Griffith University / Australia

Opening last Thursday at White Box Gallery within the Queensland College of Arts, Griffiths University is group show Future Fibre. Curated by Danica Larkin, the exhibition brings together eight Australian artists whose practice engages textiles in their approach to art making and I am pleased to be included in the show. See an excerpt from the Media Release below.

 _____________________________________________________

Student Curator Selects the Best in Contemporary Australian Textile Art for Gold Coast Exhibition.

Queensland College of Art student Danica Larkin has pulled a major coup in curating the Future Fibre exhibition at the Whitebox Gallery. Larkin has managed to secure works from some of Australia’s most exciting contemporary artists working in textiles.

The exhibition features established artists such as Kate Just, Holly Story, Thomas C. Chung and others hailing from Melbourne, Sydney, Perth and Brisbane. The young curator says, “we often think of textile-based practices like knitting and embroidery as crafts or hobbies but the artists in this exhibition show that there can be a much more thoughtful side to textiles in their work.”

Given the calibre of the artists in the show it is a major achievement for Larkin who is still an undergraduate student. The exhibition launches on Thursday 15th March at 6pm and is open to the public and it runs until 6th April.

Future Fibre:

thomas c. chung / elizabeth delfs / kate just alice lang / demelza sherwood / jessica shipard holly story / lucille martin
Curated by Danica Larkin
Opening night 6:00pm–8:00pm Thursday 15 March
Exhibition runs from 15 March – 6 April

Visit White Box Gallery website. More info here. 

Workshop with American artist John von Bergen - Wedding

Yesterday I participated in a day long workshop with American artist John von Bergen in his Wedding studio. John has been in Berlin for around ten years, having trained at the School of Visual Arts in New York. Organized by the Berlin Collective, the workshop revolved around mold making – a process which is core to the artists’ practice. John went through a series of techniques that he has learnt mostly through trial and error and gave us some insider tips on different materials, suppliers and manufacturers in Germany. John’s work is often site specific and his ability to integrate objects and installations into the architecture of a space is seamless, and often leaves the viewer pondering how it is created and questions the nature of the material. To gain an understanding into how he technically puts his work together was a fascinating insight into his sophisticated art making abilities. Not many artists are so generous to share their material research in such a manner, making it a real privilege to spend time with him in his studio.

For more info about John’s work check out his website as well as a great interview with BERLIN ART LINK with some great photos from his studio. There is also a really great article about a residency John did in Miami last year on Artslant where he talks about the process of getting gun parts from Miami to Berlin in the name of art which you can read here.

"The Anti-Precious Moment"
275 x 120 x 245 cm (108" x 47" x 96")
MDF, polymer-gypsum, plexiglas, flocking, wall paint
2001
Installation at Silverstein Gallery, New York

"Ghost"
22 x 99 x 5 cm (9" x 39" x 2")
polymer-gypsum, wall paint, US cavalry sabre
2007
Collection of the artist

"Chronic # 4"
100 x 382 x 0.2 cm (39" x 150" x .08")
plastic, polymer-gypsum, graphite, rust paint, wall paint
2010
Installation at Kjubh Kunstverein, Cologne

John von Bergen received his BFA Degree with Honors at The School of Visual Arts in New York. In 2003 von Bergen moved to Berlin with an invitation from the Berlin Senate for Culture, Science and Research. Since living in Germany his work has been exhibited in various international museums, galleries, and institutions including Halle 14 in Leipzig, Wilhelm-Hack Museum in Ludwigshafen, The Pera Museum in Istanbul, and Smack Mellon in New York. He has lectured at institutions such as Kunsterverein Melkasten, The School of Visual Arts (New York), and European College of Liberal Arts / ECLA (Berlin). In 2011 an extensive interview with von Bergen was published in BOMB Magazine Online.

DEVILS NIGHT, THE MORNING AFTER by Katherine York / SAVE THE DATE

I have been working with photographer Katherine York to mount her first solo show in Berlin! A one night only event open to the public will be held at a pop-up gallery space in a private location in Prenzlauer Berg. Save the date for the opening!

DEVILS NIGHT, THE MORNING AFTER by Katherine York
Opening Reception: Thursday, March 22, 2012 from 7 – 10 pm 
Exhibition period: March 22 – 25, 2012, appt only 
WINS Gallery, Wins Strasse 62, Prenzl'berg 

KATHERINE YORK will present a photographic series of her hometown Detroit, Michigan in her first solo show - DEVIL’S NIGHT, THE MORNING AFTER. Devils Night is the informal title given to October 30th, the night before Halloween, now remembered by the vandalism and arson seen in Detroit from the 1970s to the 1990s.

Devils Night dates from as early as the 1940's, where youths would engage in a night of criminal behavior, usually of acts of almost exclusively petty vandalism. However, in the early 1970s, the vandalism escalated to arson as political turmoil, job losses, rioting and an increase in violence, causing a mass population exodus. In the past 50 years the population has halved. Property owners, unable to sell in the city's rapidly declining housing market would use Devils Night as an opportunity to burn down their homes, collect the insurance money, and claim that an arsonist was at fault. From the 70s until the mid 90s arson and vandalism became more prolific in Detroit's inner-city every year.

The destruction reached a peak in the mid 80s, with between 500 and 800 fires being lit in the three days before Halloween.

During the summer and winter of 2010/2011, York spent time photographing the burnt and abandoned houses in the disappearing suburbs of Detroit. The series documents a city in decay and the ruin of its human inhabitants with traces of the people who still live in the area.

KATHERINEYORK (b. 1976, Detroit) a self-taught photographer based in Berlin, York

was first introduced to the medium by her grandfather. Leaving Detroit at 19 to

California, York worked primarily in architecture and design. York’s childhood in Detroit, juxtaposed with her early passion for architecture, is evident through the sprawling desolate city, suburban and industrial landscapes of her photography. Fascinated by neglect, post industrial and post communist landscapes, York documents the transition of social spaces after the fall of a dictatorship, thriving industry or over developed past. In doing so, she questions: how these transitions have failed or succeeded, what blossoms in these exhausted landscapes and how the spaces become reconfigured or imagined. York’s images often leave the audience with a sensation of viewing a site where an event has occurred, but what remains is unsettling unknown.

WINS GALLERY

The exhibition will be a one night only event open to the public at a pop-up gallery space in Winsstrasse, Prenzlauer Berg, after which it will be open by appointment only until March 25.