Barbara Gross

Drawings

14 Mar - 19 Apr 2008

DRAWINGS

Eylem Aladogan
Silvia Bächli,
Edith Plattner
Qiu Anxiong
Kiki Smith

Exhibition March 14 – April 19, 2008

In this exhibition, we feature artists who make their own worlds out of lines and strokes. To them, a drawing is not simply a sketch or a rapidly noted idea - it is an entire medium unto itself, like sculpture or video.
SILVIA BÄCHLI (born 1956 in Baden, Switzerland) translates impressions of her everyday environment into an open form of drawing. Out of brushstrokes and the balance of line and plane, bodies and space are created on paper. Subtle observations are noted down: an outstretched arm, the closing of an eyelid, the fading of a flower. In early 2008 the Centre Pompidou in Paris devoted a solo show to Silvia Bächli’s work. She will also be representing Switzerland at the 2009 Venice Biennial.
Mythological figures and stories are themes of KIKI SMITH ́s (born in 1954 in Nuremberg, Germany) drawings. She is interested in her own interpretations of events, nature, and the relationship between human beings and animals. In short strokes, she creates an atmosphere of vulnerability and transience, which is intensified by her use of crumpled, fragile, handmade paper. Smith’s solo show, ›Her Home‹, will open on March 16, 2008, at the Haus Esters Museum in Krefeld, and travel to the Kunsthalle in Nuremberg in autumn 2008.
QIU ANXIONG ́s (born in 1972 in Chengdu, China) series of drawings, The New Sutra of the Mountains and Oceans, is based on a mythological tale. The Shanhaijing describes a world outside of the Chinese empire, a place where barbarians and exiles dwell. This world is populated by fantastical hybrid creatures. In his drawings, Qiu transforms them into mixtures of animals and modern military equipment. He presents a new interpretation of the barbaric in a contemporary context. Qui Anxiong’s animated film, made with these drawings, was seen at the 2007 Shanghai Biennial and the China Power Station II exhibition at the Astrup Fearnley Museum in Oslo. In 2007 the Museum of Contemporary Art in Tokyo presented a solo show of his work.
EYLEM ALADOGAN (born in 1975 in Tiel, Netherlands) allows nature and technology to meet in her drawings. In Human Principles of a House she draws a branching weave of delicate lines into a strictly symmetrical architectural structure. With white lines on black paper, she inverts the classic principals of drawing. The complete drawing can only be seen under illumination. The Kröller-Müller Museum in Otterlo, Netherlands is currently presenting a solo show of installations and clay sculpture. Aladogan has been invited to exhibit her work at the Sonsbeek international sculpture exhibition in Arnhem, Netherlands, in June 2008.
EDITH PLATTNER (born in 1967 in Bolzano, Italy) is the only artist in the show to work with color. She reacts to defects or fortuitous structures in the paper, developing the drawing line by line, creating individual emphases with accents of color. In the process she moves from the abstract to physical and plant references. Her drawings and ceramic objects will be seen at the ›Antinomie‹ exhibition at the Kunstbüro Reillplast in Munich, in April 2008.
 

Tags: Eylem Aladogan, Qiu Anxiong, Silvia Bächli, Kiki Smith