17 Jan - 23 Feb 2013 Opening: Thursday, 17 Jan, 6 - 9 pm Gallery 1
Janis Avotins: 17 Jan - 23 Feb 2013 Opening: Thursday, 17 Jan, 6 - 9 pm Gallery 1
The new works by Janis Avotins (born 1981 in Latvia) are characterized by a distinct reduction compared to pictures of previous years. While the older works give an idea of landscape and space, the figures in his new paintings and drawings are placed in a monochrome color space.
The real scenes, based on observations of everyday life, photographs and movies, are dispersed to a higher extent into painting and ambiguity.
Like in Anton Chekhov’s pieces, Avotins works are depictions of very open atmospheres, moods and human relations.
The unexpressed has more presence than what is actually shown. The prevailing shades of grey and black reveal Avotins’ acceptance of dark and introverted sentiments as an attitude towards life. In this manner the paintings and drawings state an alternative to the flashy and loud media world of today. In his works Avotins subversively expresses qualities like silence, calm, sincerity and humility. Janis Avotins was born in 1981 in Latvia. He studied at the Janis Rozentals School of Fine Art and the Latvian Academy of Art in Riga. His works have been exhibited at Saatchi Gallery, London (2012), at the Contemporary Art Center, Vilnius (2010) and the Ludwig Forum für Internationale Kunst, Aachen (2008). Janis Avotins lives and works in Riga, Latvia.
Michal Budny: Apollo
9 November 2012 - 23 February 2013 Gallery 2
„Michal Budny’s works are characterised by a precise use of everyday materials. The translation of immaterial, personal memories or subjective emotions is a salient feature here. In this way, minimalist objects come into being and duly establish an abstract, parallel world, which, penetrating the quotidian, opens up a view of the poetic and the existential.“ (Vanessa Joan Müller, Kunstverein für die Rheinlande und Westfalen, Düsseldorf)
In his current exhibition at Johnen Galerie entitled Apollo, Michal Budny creates a floating and drifting atmosphere. Nacreous, shimmery objects made of various layers of plain papers emanate just as much energy as to inspire a sense of volume, space and lightness in the viewer. Budny’s works are not overpowering, they do not tell stories but rather decelerate perception by creating an open, energetic field where the observer does not reach solid ground.
Michal Budny was born in Leszno, Poland, in 1976. His works have been shown in numerous exhibitions: Pinchuk Art Centre (Kiev, 2012), National Gallery of Art (Vilnius, 2012), Kunsthalle Nürnberg (2012), Kunstmuseum Stuttgart (2011), Kunstverein für die Rheinlande und Westfalen (Düsseldorf, 2011), Neuer Kunstverein (Vienna, 2011), Museum of Modern Art (Warsaw, 2009), Museum of Art (£ódŸ, 2006), National Gallery of Art (Warsaw, 2005), Center for Contemporary Art (Warsaw, 2004).
On 9 November 2012, Johnen Galerie opens its fourth solo exhibition with Michal Budny. Michal Budny lives and works in Warsaw, Poland.
KUNST HALLE SANKT GALLEN presents David Renggli - Scaramouche
17 August - 27 October 2013
David Renggli - in some respects a prodigy of the Swiss art scene - has repeatedly aroused the curiosity of the public for more than ten years thanks to a unique mixture of themes and forms, of spectacle, humour and poetry.
The Showroom, London presents Ricardo Basbaum: re-projecting (london)
12 July - 17 August 2013
The Showroom is delighted to present re-projecting (london), a major new commission by Brazilian artist Ricardo Basbaum, and the first significant presentation of his internationally renowned artwork in the UK.
