January 25–March 17, 2018
Gelatin, Marcel Dzama, Adrian Ghenie, Kati Heck, Edward Lipski, Jonathan Meese, Ryan Mosley, Aaron van Erp
Tim Van Laere Gallery is pleased to present Always Trust The Artist, a groupshow featuring works by Gelatin, Marcel Dzama, Adrian Ghenie, Kati Heck, Edward Lipski, Jonathan Meese, Ryan Mosley and Aaron van Erp. The title of the exhibition refers to a work by Kati Heck and perfectly sums up the philosophy of the gallery.
Gelatin (live and work in Vienna) is comprised of four artists who first met in 1978 attending a summer camp. Their universe could be defined as a stupendous extravagant jumble. Their work originates out of performances and is translated mostly into sculpture. From 1993 they began exhibiting internationally including solo shows at Fondazione Prada, Milan and an upcoming show at Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen, Rotterdam.
The work of Marcel Dzama (1974, Winnipeg; lives and works in New York) is immediately recognised by his own distinctive visual language, layered with artistic influences like Dada and Marcel Duchamp. Mostly known for his drawings, he also makes sculptures, paintings, films and dioramas. Recent solo exhibitions include La Casa Encendida, Madrid and Musée d’art contemporain de Montréal, Montréal.
At first sight Adrian Ghenie’s (1977, Baia-Mare; lives and works in Cluj and Berlin) paintings deal with subjects that carry a historical set of references, but collective memory is constantly challenged by enigmatic prophetic actions, occulted and personal folds in the temporal linearity. Ghenie’s works have become increasingly complex and multilayered, generating an open-ended set of internal and external meanings. Infused with ambiguity, the works operate in the areas between figuration and abstraction, history and imagination, past and present. Recent solo exhibitions include Villa de Medici, Rome and CAC, Malaga.
Kati Heck (1979, Düsseldorf; lives and works in Pulle, Belgium) is to be considered an heiress to German Expressionism. One is reminded of the bars, dancers and actors of Otto Dix and George Grosz at the same time as the Old Masters. Heck synthesizes and fuses styles. Recent solo exhibitions include Sadie Coles HQ, London and M HKA, Antwerp.
“My work exists between the cultural and the visual level,” Edward Lipski (1966, London; lives and works in London) explains, “Iʼm interested in the space between something you understand and something that is also abstract. This confusion creates a particular intensity.” His work moves between these two poles; the distance between extremes is blurred, until we find ourselves immersed in a seductive visual chaos. He has exhibited globally with museums and leading art galleries, including solo shows at Bonnefantenmuseum, Maastricht and MDD, Deurle.
Jonathan Meese (1970, Tokyo; lives and works in Berlin and Hamburg) is renowned for his multi-faceted work, including wildly exuberant paintings and installations, ecstatic performances, and a powerful body of sculptures. All of Meese’s work is driven and supported by a striving for a rule of art, the dictatorship of art. Apparently effortlessly, he has developed in all genres an independent and at the same time unique vocabulary that gives his work a variety, visual energy and quality which, according to Robert Fleck, has been unheard of since Picasso. Recent solo shows include Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna and Carré Sainte Anne, Montpellier.
In the paintings of Ryan Mosley (1980 Chesterfield; lives and works in Sheffield) time, place, history, the characters that populate them and the spaces they inhabit are all warped, distorted, thrown out of kilter, in states of fusion, disintegration and recombination. His works were internationally exhibited in exhibitions including Museum Sheffield, UK and Arp Museum Bahnhof Rolandseck, Remagen.
Aaron van Erp’s (1978, Veghel; lives and works in Eindhoven and Asuncion) morose humor is channeled into haunted paintings. The artist’s portrayal of a reflection of a disconcerting atmosphere has never been more potent. His gruesome scenes are painted in the artist signature style and take place in dystopian environments which are made even more absurdly surreal by the random placement of objects such as a table tennis table, or meatballs. Recent solo exhibitions include Stadtmuseum Gütersloh, Gütersloh and C-Space, Beijing.
