Helmut Middendorf
06 Apr - 01 Jun 2013
HELMUT MIDDENDORF
BLOW UP
6 April - 1 June 2013
MOTINTERNATIONAL London is pleased to present Helmut Middendorf’s first exhibition at the gallery, presenting new abstract paintings and collages.
‘Blow Up’ demonstrates the great versatility of Middendorf’s practice. Continuing his exploration of abstraction, his canvases
appear to have been imprinted by giant stamps, with compositions dominated by large blots and stains. The show’s title, a passing reference to Antonioni’s 1966 film ‘Blow-Up’ concurrently refers to the artists method of ‘blowing up’ his abstract material onto
the canvas.
The artist layers the surface of the canvas with circles, grids, spirals, dots and abstract marks. The result is raw, graphic and direct. His paintings bring to mind Rorschach drawings, or Surrealist experiments. Smudges appear as cardiograms of the unconscious; as food for fantasy and imagination. These abstract compositions are accompanied by collaged photos, carefully selected from piles of newspapers and then defaced and obscured by stains, resulting in what Middendorf calls ‘archival violence’. His reduced colour-scale is dominated by a dark-blueish paynes gray, contrasted with moments of luminous blue or fluorescent bengal red.
The exhibition includes a series of new collages, created from cardboard, photographs, newspaper material, magazine clippings, comics, downloads from the Internet, found stuff and painted parts; the ‘whole world of trivial myths’. They re-present the source material accumulated within Middendorf’s studio, and are described by the artist in the following terms:
“Sometimes they can become totally abstract, or even satirical, make a political comment or a joke or pay homage, they can have sexual undertones, be enigmatic, silly, surrealistic, ironic or pretty harsh”.
The filtered images are his starting point, but as collages they are enhanced or erased, cancelled or deconstructed to provocative and surprising ends. In 2009 a significant retrospective of his work was held at the Benaki-Museum, Athens. The recent publication ‘OBSERVER’, published by Kerberverlag, presents a concentrated overview of Middendorf’s collages and drawings from the last 15 years.
Helmut Middendorf was born in 1953 in Dinklage, Germany. He currently lives and works in Berlin and Athens. Since the early 80’s, when he was a leading figure of ‘Neue Wilde’ in Berlin, his work has been shown internationally over three decades in numerous solo and group shows. Recent exhibitions include Eleni Koroneou Gallery in Athens (2012-13), ‘Chambres d` Amis – Collectiepresentatie’, S.M.A.K.,Gent (2012), ‘Gegenwartskunst’, Staedel Museum, Frankfurt (2012), Schlachtpunk Malerei der 80er Jahre’, Kunsthalle Darmstadt (2012), ‘The Last Grand Tour’, Museum of Cyc’ladic Art, Athens (2011), ‘Neue Wilde’, ARKEN-Museum, Denmark (2010), ‘Neoexpressionistic paintings from Berlin’, Gift of S. and M. Sanders, NY, Museum of Modern Art Tel Aviv (2010). Helmut Middendorfs works are held in more than 30 museum collections worldwide.
BLOW UP
6 April - 1 June 2013
MOTINTERNATIONAL London is pleased to present Helmut Middendorf’s first exhibition at the gallery, presenting new abstract paintings and collages.
‘Blow Up’ demonstrates the great versatility of Middendorf’s practice. Continuing his exploration of abstraction, his canvases
appear to have been imprinted by giant stamps, with compositions dominated by large blots and stains. The show’s title, a passing reference to Antonioni’s 1966 film ‘Blow-Up’ concurrently refers to the artists method of ‘blowing up’ his abstract material onto
the canvas.
The artist layers the surface of the canvas with circles, grids, spirals, dots and abstract marks. The result is raw, graphic and direct. His paintings bring to mind Rorschach drawings, or Surrealist experiments. Smudges appear as cardiograms of the unconscious; as food for fantasy and imagination. These abstract compositions are accompanied by collaged photos, carefully selected from piles of newspapers and then defaced and obscured by stains, resulting in what Middendorf calls ‘archival violence’. His reduced colour-scale is dominated by a dark-blueish paynes gray, contrasted with moments of luminous blue or fluorescent bengal red.
The exhibition includes a series of new collages, created from cardboard, photographs, newspaper material, magazine clippings, comics, downloads from the Internet, found stuff and painted parts; the ‘whole world of trivial myths’. They re-present the source material accumulated within Middendorf’s studio, and are described by the artist in the following terms:
“Sometimes they can become totally abstract, or even satirical, make a political comment or a joke or pay homage, they can have sexual undertones, be enigmatic, silly, surrealistic, ironic or pretty harsh”.
The filtered images are his starting point, but as collages they are enhanced or erased, cancelled or deconstructed to provocative and surprising ends. In 2009 a significant retrospective of his work was held at the Benaki-Museum, Athens. The recent publication ‘OBSERVER’, published by Kerberverlag, presents a concentrated overview of Middendorf’s collages and drawings from the last 15 years.
Helmut Middendorf was born in 1953 in Dinklage, Germany. He currently lives and works in Berlin and Athens. Since the early 80’s, when he was a leading figure of ‘Neue Wilde’ in Berlin, his work has been shown internationally over three decades in numerous solo and group shows. Recent exhibitions include Eleni Koroneou Gallery in Athens (2012-13), ‘Chambres d` Amis – Collectiepresentatie’, S.M.A.K.,Gent (2012), ‘Gegenwartskunst’, Staedel Museum, Frankfurt (2012), Schlachtpunk Malerei der 80er Jahre’, Kunsthalle Darmstadt (2012), ‘The Last Grand Tour’, Museum of Cyc’ladic Art, Athens (2011), ‘Neue Wilde’, ARKEN-Museum, Denmark (2010), ‘Neoexpressionistic paintings from Berlin’, Gift of S. and M. Sanders, NY, Museum of Modern Art Tel Aviv (2010). Helmut Middendorfs works are held in more than 30 museum collections worldwide.