Simon Pasieka
30 May - 28 Jun 2008
SIMON PASIEKA
"8"
EXHIBITION PERIOD: 30.05.2008 - 28.06.2008
opening reception: May 30th, 2008 at 7.30 pm
The image as if a mirror, reflected in the water or by looking into one, has always been popular in displaying modes of knowledge or the recognition of the self in painting. As described by Jacques Lacan in his theory of the mirror stage the identification of the self is only provided by the first look into the mirror; the idea about the self therewith is based on an image, on an imagination, moreover on a imagination of one's self as a unit of the body which will only develop in the course of life though. As a child or a young person, we are still far from this unit; our image in the mirror is only the first stage to practice the layouts of our self in order to finally arrive to a more global picture.
The game and the theater are the spaces of the imaginary in which the young protagonists in Simon Pasieka ́s paintings move. In front of colorless walls in barren winter landscapes they find themselves joined together in the game of masquerade, their mirror images bringing for a brief moment the bizarre formation of a new physical unit. Like in many of his ink drawings the artist shows small groups – absent and deeply committed to their game – in an original and natural environment. Whether playing with the mirror as in "8" or the two Aztec-styled young people demonstrating for their viewers as in the work "Wirbel / Vortex", they always seem willing to complacently recognize themselves in their own game while concurrently excluded from the outside world. In addition to his ink drawings Pasieka uses the oil to manage through the bright colors of his character’s clothing and utensils an additional distance between them and their natural environment. At the same time he lets them mark their territory, in whose limited space both game and transformation can happen.
Tasja Langenbach
"8"
EXHIBITION PERIOD: 30.05.2008 - 28.06.2008
opening reception: May 30th, 2008 at 7.30 pm
The image as if a mirror, reflected in the water or by looking into one, has always been popular in displaying modes of knowledge or the recognition of the self in painting. As described by Jacques Lacan in his theory of the mirror stage the identification of the self is only provided by the first look into the mirror; the idea about the self therewith is based on an image, on an imagination, moreover on a imagination of one's self as a unit of the body which will only develop in the course of life though. As a child or a young person, we are still far from this unit; our image in the mirror is only the first stage to practice the layouts of our self in order to finally arrive to a more global picture.
The game and the theater are the spaces of the imaginary in which the young protagonists in Simon Pasieka ́s paintings move. In front of colorless walls in barren winter landscapes they find themselves joined together in the game of masquerade, their mirror images bringing for a brief moment the bizarre formation of a new physical unit. Like in many of his ink drawings the artist shows small groups – absent and deeply committed to their game – in an original and natural environment. Whether playing with the mirror as in "8" or the two Aztec-styled young people demonstrating for their viewers as in the work "Wirbel / Vortex", they always seem willing to complacently recognize themselves in their own game while concurrently excluded from the outside world. In addition to his ink drawings Pasieka uses the oil to manage through the bright colors of his character’s clothing and utensils an additional distance between them and their natural environment. At the same time he lets them mark their territory, in whose limited space both game and transformation can happen.
Tasja Langenbach