Julien Berthier
23 Apr - 05 Jun 2010
JULIEN BERTHIER
"NEGLECTABLE COLLECTINGS“
OR The theft of public items which no one will miss
23.04.-05.06.2009, Eröffnung: Mittwoch, 22.04., 18 Uhr
For his third solo exhibition in our gallery Julien Berthier (b. 1975, France) has compiled a project which focuses in a narrower sense on the location of his temporary studio in Cologne. In "NEGLECTABLE COLLECTINGS" once again the topic is life and movement in public spaces. In a wider sense it is evidence of his motto “Just don’t leave the world up to the specialists”. We are especially pleased to be able to open the exhibition of Julien Berthier’s newest works at the same time as Art Cologne.
The exhibition space is taken over by the work "Matière première [Raw Materials]". The artist has appropriated ‘superfluous’ pieces of piping from barriers at various public locations in Cologne and welded the individual pieces into a steel tube of the standard length usually available at wholesale stores (6 m long, 48 mm diameter). In this way Berthier has re-converted the collected material into a resource. The component construction has not negatively affected its function. The work is accompanied by a video showing the various stages of “collecting material” and in stills depicts the locations after the event.
The work "Seven times the Berlin sun" seems at first glance to be one of those specialist objects for professional use, one of the famous “Berthier Machines”. Despite its old-fashioned design, it is mobile and capable of producing ultraviolet rays, seven times stronger than the average radiation in Berlin (as a reference value). It has the potential to speed up ageing processes by using an intensively shining artificial sun to take advantage of the natural phenomenon. In the gallery for the first time, the machine shines on everyday posters and ages them rapidly. At the same time nostalgia is created and the ageing process of images and visual codes is revealed.
The "Pavés préhensiles [palm stones]" are paving stones removed from the streets in the City of Cologne, in which the imprint of a grasping hand is engraved. This very simple sculptural gesture optimizes the use of paving stones as archaic and accessible projectiles. The object plays on the double-meaning of the idea of revolution: The revolution of the Neolithic age (and the emergence of mechanical treatment of stone) and the revolution of civilians against authority (seen for example in Paris around 1968). With its tranquilizing effect the polished, hand-size, hollowed-out stone produces an anti-stress emotion, which offsets and diverts the aggression of the initial situation.
On the lower floor Julien Berthier is presenting a series of his latest drawings, here again a collection of incredible visions and utopian project drafts. On a different level they they investigate the fragile and complex structures of our Western form of life.
"NEGLECTABLE COLLECTINGS“
OR The theft of public items which no one will miss
23.04.-05.06.2009, Eröffnung: Mittwoch, 22.04., 18 Uhr
For his third solo exhibition in our gallery Julien Berthier (b. 1975, France) has compiled a project which focuses in a narrower sense on the location of his temporary studio in Cologne. In "NEGLECTABLE COLLECTINGS" once again the topic is life and movement in public spaces. In a wider sense it is evidence of his motto “Just don’t leave the world up to the specialists”. We are especially pleased to be able to open the exhibition of Julien Berthier’s newest works at the same time as Art Cologne.
The exhibition space is taken over by the work "Matière première [Raw Materials]". The artist has appropriated ‘superfluous’ pieces of piping from barriers at various public locations in Cologne and welded the individual pieces into a steel tube of the standard length usually available at wholesale stores (6 m long, 48 mm diameter). In this way Berthier has re-converted the collected material into a resource. The component construction has not negatively affected its function. The work is accompanied by a video showing the various stages of “collecting material” and in stills depicts the locations after the event.
The work "Seven times the Berlin sun" seems at first glance to be one of those specialist objects for professional use, one of the famous “Berthier Machines”. Despite its old-fashioned design, it is mobile and capable of producing ultraviolet rays, seven times stronger than the average radiation in Berlin (as a reference value). It has the potential to speed up ageing processes by using an intensively shining artificial sun to take advantage of the natural phenomenon. In the gallery for the first time, the machine shines on everyday posters and ages them rapidly. At the same time nostalgia is created and the ageing process of images and visual codes is revealed.
The "Pavés préhensiles [palm stones]" are paving stones removed from the streets in the City of Cologne, in which the imprint of a grasping hand is engraved. This very simple sculptural gesture optimizes the use of paving stones as archaic and accessible projectiles. The object plays on the double-meaning of the idea of revolution: The revolution of the Neolithic age (and the emergence of mechanical treatment of stone) and the revolution of civilians against authority (seen for example in Paris around 1968). With its tranquilizing effect the polished, hand-size, hollowed-out stone produces an anti-stress emotion, which offsets and diverts the aggression of the initial situation.
On the lower floor Julien Berthier is presenting a series of his latest drawings, here again a collection of incredible visions and utopian project drafts. On a different level they they investigate the fragile and complex structures of our Western form of life.