Highlight #14: The Dream-Like World Art

Art in Switzerland, Turkey and Russia

Switzerland, ZURICH <Stephen Gill: Buried Flowers Coexist With Disappointed Ants>

7 May ~ 27 June 2015_Christophe Guye Galerie

Switzerland, ZURICH <Stephen Gill: Buried Flowers Coexist With Disappointed Ants>
British photographer Stephen Gill is holding a solo exhibition. Born in 1971, Gill is internationally known for his distinctive and experimental photography. He does a great job of integrating life directly into the camera. His photos are not just simple descriptions of a place but render it wholly tangible. By capturing a location and its inhabitants creatively, he is able to make works that provoke an emotional response from its viewers.

The exhibition presents his sensational series that span eight years from 2004 to 2012: “Hackney Wick,” “Hackney Flowers,” “Buried,” “Coexistence,” “Talking to Ants” and “A Series of Disappointments.” You can see the photographer's profound insights capturing the essence of scenes with a technique he has developed over the years.
Gill manages to weave intriguing life stories with the sense of place found within the camera lens. Discover his passion through his exhibition “Buried Flowers Coexist with Disappointed Ants.”

<Untitled, from the series 'Coexistence'>

2010 Canson Platine Fibre Rag 310gsm Sheet 59.7×47.3cm Frame 62.8×47,4cm Edition of 5, plus 2 AP; Ed.no.4/5 GILL13082
<Untitled, from the series 'Hackney Flowers'>

2005 Hand print on C-type paper Sheet 59.2×55.2cm 57.4×42.5cm Image Frame 59.2×71.76cm Edition of 10, plus 2 AP; Ed.no.8/10 GILL11795
<Untitled, from the series 'Talking to Ants'>

2009 Archival pigment print Sheet 111.75×111.75cm Frame 115×115cm Edition of 5, plus 2 AP; Ed.no.2/5 GILL12892

Turkey, ISTANBUL <STRAIT>

9 June ~ 2 August 2015_SALT

The exhibition “Strait” finds inspiration in a dramatic accident that occurred in the Bosphorus Strait, Turkey. An oil tanker christened Nassia collided with another ship, spilling large quantities of oil into the sea. The straight, with its sharply curved and narrow pathways, has become a high-risk of site for navigational accidents.
Architect Neyran Turan researched this tragedy, and was inspired to create an artwork. The artist illustrates the constrained and constricted characteristics of the Bosphorus Strait by re-constructing it as a human-scaled passageway without regard to its actual topography.

This project reinterprets geographic issues as architectural objects. In addition to the installation, the project also included a series of drawings in the form of silent films that illustrate this specific geographic fiction more effectively. It encourages visitors to engage in an indirect experience, as if they are on the Strait’s shorelines. The exhibition also raises contemporary concerns about aesthetics, politics and morality in Istanbul. If you would like to see both the physical and imagined Bosphorus Strait, visit SALT in Istanbul.

<COLOSSAL TANKER>

Still from the silent film Courtesy Neyran Turan
<STRAIT AS NEW LAND>

Still from the silent film Courtesy Neyran Turan
<WANDERER ABOVE THE TANKER>

Still from the silent film Courtesy Neyran Turan

Russia, Moscow <KATHARINA GROSSE_YES NO WHY LATER>

1 June ~ 9 August 2015_Garage Museum of Contemporary Art

German-born artist Katharina Grosse is holding her first exhibition in Russia. Challenging the notion of painting, Grosse fills the entire exhibition hall at the Garage Museum of Contemporary Art with a variety of materials that resembles Gorky Park and Shigeru Ban’s temporary architecture. It is as if she transferred the outside world to inside the museum. Vivid and raw colors instantly grab visitors’ attention, where they can navigate their ways in a surreal environment the artist has created, physically interacting with elements from nature. Trees, rocks and soil occupy the entire exhibition hall and are wildly spray-painted in vibrant colors, generating a sense of freedom and roughness.

The exhibition masterfully captures Grosse’s interest in large-scale paintings, which goes far beyond the canvas to open-air spaces. She creates “living picture” to combine painting with installation and installation with nature. For visitors who enjoy playful artworks and outdoor activities, but cannot see her exhibition at the 56thVeniceBiennale,Yes No Why Later provides a wonderful opportunity to experience Grosse’s work. All are invited to relax, contemplate and entertain in this mesmerizing environment. ■ with ARTINPOST

<Inside the Speaker>

2014 Kunstpalast Dusseldorf Photo: Nic Tenwiggenhorn ⓒ Katharina Grosse und VG Bild-Kunst Bonn, 2015 Courtesy Johann Konig, Berlin
<Inside the Speaker>

2014 Kunstpalast Dusseldorf Photo: Nic Tenwiggenhorn ⓒ Katharina Grosse und VG Bild-Kunst Bonn, 2015 Courtesy Johann Konig, Berlin
<I Think This Is a Pine Tree>

2013 Wall Works, Nationalgalerie im Hamburger Bahnhof Photo: Nic Tenwiggenhorn ⓒ Katharina Grosse und VG Bild-Kunst Bonn, 2015