Face to Face
24 Jan - 21 Mar 2015
FACE TO FACE
Philip Akkerman, Anton Henning, Klaas Kloosterboer, Stephan Melzl, Paul Morrison, Julian Opie, Albrecht Schnider u.a.
24 January – 21 March 2015
The selection of artists included in this exhibition present the diversified possibilities that embody the concept of a portrait today. Carefully selected and placed “face to face”, the juxtapositions create at once a dialogue between the various works as well as underline the expressiveness of each in its singularity. Not only does the diversity of the genre become apparent, moreover it itself becomes the mode of self-contemplation for artist and viewer alike.
Portraiture has always served as an aide to remembrance beyond the present, enduring even death itself. Since the beginning of time mankind’s longing for the effigy has been apparent, at times even infused by a belief in the spiritualism and magic such an image can convey. While detail and meticulousness were once of great importance for the sake of recognition, these core characteristics of the genre became increasingly obsolete with the invention of photography in the beginning of the 19th Century. Being overruled in terms of exactness, and while simultaneously the medium itself undergoes turmoil’s of change – Impressionism, Expressionism, Surrealism, Futurism and later Photorealism and Hyperrealism – painting increasingly relied on its own devices and strengths. At once the focus shifted to portraying a being by way of painterly expression. History aside, the key attribute of a portrait per se remains creating a copy of some sort, even if abstraction or surrealist forms are applied. While the connection, or rather the search, for some sort of truth or reality remains the defining starting point for the viewer, it is however the mode of depiction chosen that has an authoritative effect on the work in progress: the artist now, through choice of material, stroke, and form, defines what is to be “painted”. What does this ancient form of depiction still have to offer in the digital age? Whether it be classic self-portraiture or a genre-mix applied, a subordination of the term “portrait” or a reduction thereof, or even be it a reference made to the abundance of self-manifestation as a consequence of the digital day and age: the selection of artists presented in this exhibition present the diversified possibilities that embody the concept of a portrait today. Carefully selected and placed “face to face”, the juxtapositions create at once a dialogue between the various works as well as underline the expressiveness of each in its singularity. Not only does the diversity of the genre become apparent, moreover it itself becomes the mode of self-contemplation for artist and viewer alike.
Philip Akkerman, Anton Henning, Klaas Kloosterboer, Stephan Melzl, Paul Morrison, Julian Opie, Albrecht Schnider u.a.
24 January – 21 March 2015
The selection of artists included in this exhibition present the diversified possibilities that embody the concept of a portrait today. Carefully selected and placed “face to face”, the juxtapositions create at once a dialogue between the various works as well as underline the expressiveness of each in its singularity. Not only does the diversity of the genre become apparent, moreover it itself becomes the mode of self-contemplation for artist and viewer alike.
Portraiture has always served as an aide to remembrance beyond the present, enduring even death itself. Since the beginning of time mankind’s longing for the effigy has been apparent, at times even infused by a belief in the spiritualism and magic such an image can convey. While detail and meticulousness were once of great importance for the sake of recognition, these core characteristics of the genre became increasingly obsolete with the invention of photography in the beginning of the 19th Century. Being overruled in terms of exactness, and while simultaneously the medium itself undergoes turmoil’s of change – Impressionism, Expressionism, Surrealism, Futurism and later Photorealism and Hyperrealism – painting increasingly relied on its own devices and strengths. At once the focus shifted to portraying a being by way of painterly expression. History aside, the key attribute of a portrait per se remains creating a copy of some sort, even if abstraction or surrealist forms are applied. While the connection, or rather the search, for some sort of truth or reality remains the defining starting point for the viewer, it is however the mode of depiction chosen that has an authoritative effect on the work in progress: the artist now, through choice of material, stroke, and form, defines what is to be “painted”. What does this ancient form of depiction still have to offer in the digital age? Whether it be classic self-portraiture or a genre-mix applied, a subordination of the term “portrait” or a reduction thereof, or even be it a reference made to the abundance of self-manifestation as a consequence of the digital day and age: the selection of artists presented in this exhibition present the diversified possibilities that embody the concept of a portrait today. Carefully selected and placed “face to face”, the juxtapositions create at once a dialogue between the various works as well as underline the expressiveness of each in its singularity. Not only does the diversity of the genre become apparent, moreover it itself becomes the mode of self-contemplation for artist and viewer alike.