Simon Mathers / Ulrich Strothjohann / Aishan Yu
08 Jun - 06 Jul 2013
SIMON MATHERS / ULRICH STROTHJOHANN / AISHAN YU
Dog Days I
8 June - 6 July 2013
MOTINTERNATIONAL London is pleased to present the first in a summer series of exhibitions at the gallery with a focus on new or rarely shown works.
The Romans associated the long hot summer days with the ‘Dog Star’ Sirius, because it is the brightest star in the constellation Canis Major (Large Dog) and the brightest star in the night sky. With a tension between temporality—both fleeting and endless, like the dog days of summer—these artists are brought together in a temporary constellation.
Time is ever-present in the practice of Aishan Yu. Her photo-realistic drawings embody and reference acts of laborious patience including actions such as: weaving, painting, looking, arranging, and building. These moments underline her drawing as a durational process implicit to the depiction of a psychological experience—an interior world of dreams and shadows. Her source images are historically linked, this one selected from the archives of the German documentary photographer Hedda Morrison who resided in Beijing for a thirteen-year period from 1933 to 1946. The sense of nostalgia is disrupted by Yu with her marks of the present, spots of paint or lines of ink juxtapose the quick hand with the slow.
Aishan Yu’s focus on the centre of her paper draws one’s attention to looking in or out, whereas Simon Mathers rests the gaze on the surface of his canvas. Mathers paintings of familiar objects (sunglasses, cheese, cigarettes) and anonymous subjects materialize as studies of surface and process. His practice often draws from his daily activities; a captured moment on the bus will resurface in the studio. Often working on many pieces simultaneously, Mathers gathers and layers, reveals and conceals, drips and draws out gestural abstractions that place emphasis on the quality of the line.
Mathers’ reference to the ephemeral form is translated into one of cemented presence in the sculptures of Ulrich Strothjohann. The allegorical structures of Strothjohann’s work take up space and position the viewer in direct relationship to the object or the activity. With a focus on transformation, his work often alludes to instructions, operational manuals, and guides for activity. For Strothjohann the world is in constant motion—chains of narratives intercepting and found materials repurposed. The work begins in the everyday and moves into the realm of philosophy; forming a system of spatial planetary mechanics of relative positions.
Simon Mathers (b. 1984) lives and works in London. Recent solo exhibitions include the Musee d’Arte Contemporanea di Calasetta, Italy, 2013; The Patterns of Fur and Themes of Still and Running Water MOTINTERNATIONAL, London, 2011; and Rowing Projects, London, 2012. Recent group exhibitions include Pop Tarts James Fuentes, New York, 2013; Paradise Garage Eightyone, London, 2013; Midsummer Opening Pilar Corrias, London, 2011; Poisson d’Avril Vous Etes Ici, Amsterdam, 2011; The Salon of the Vernacular, Fishmarket Gallery, London, 2011; MOT International, London, 2010; The Drifting Canvas, Curated by Robin Footitt and Tom Cole, Cole Contemporary, London, 2010.
Ulrich Strothjohann (b.1954) lives and works in Berlin, Germany. Recent solo exhibitions include Life’s Coaching, MOTInternational, London, 2011; Enter Here / No Full Size, Galerie M29, Cologne, 2011; Galerie Andreas Höhne, Munich, 2009; Ulrich Strothjohann, MOT International, London, 2008; Shackled up / down carefully Adamski Gallery, Berlin, 2008; Gusty Winds May Exist, Adamski Gallery, Aachen, 2007; Cleaners, Koroneou Gallery, Athens, 2007 and Homemade: Autopilot, Neuer Aachener Kunstverein, Aachen, 2004. He has recently been included in selected group exhibitions including Es Gibt...There is... b-05 Art and Design Centre, Montabaur, 2012; Lager Than Life / Stranger Than Fiction, 11. Trienale Kleinplastik, Fellbach, 2010; In Good Faith, Galerie M29, Cologne, 2010; Open Plan Living, 1st Tel Aviv Biennial ART TVL, Curated by Dr Andrew Renton, 2008; Open Plan, Athens, 2008; The New Domestic Landscape, Kjubh, Cologne, 2007; Make Your Own Life, ICA, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, 2006 and touring to: The Power Plant Contemporary Art Gallery, Toronto, 2006, Henry Art Gallery, Seattle, 2007, MOCA, Miami, 2007; Open Office Three, Galerie M29, Cologne, 2006; and Not Quite Ten Years without Martin Kippenberger, MOT International, London, 2006.
Aishan Yu (b. 1981) lives and works in London. In 2009, she won the Federation of British Artists Emerging Artist Prize in The Threadneedle Prize Exhibition. Recent exhibitions include Setsuko Hara, Oriel Sycharth, Wrexham, UK, 2013; ZARDOZ, MOTInternational Project Space, London, 2012; Jerwood Drawing Prize, Jerwood Space, London, 2012; 16mm Film Screening, MK Gallery, Milton Keynes, 2012; The Theadneedle Space Launch Exhibition, Mall Galleries, London, 2012 and the The Kyffin Williams Drawing Prize, Oriel Kyffin Williams Gallery, Anglesey, 2012.
Dog Days I
8 June - 6 July 2013
MOTINTERNATIONAL London is pleased to present the first in a summer series of exhibitions at the gallery with a focus on new or rarely shown works.
The Romans associated the long hot summer days with the ‘Dog Star’ Sirius, because it is the brightest star in the constellation Canis Major (Large Dog) and the brightest star in the night sky. With a tension between temporality—both fleeting and endless, like the dog days of summer—these artists are brought together in a temporary constellation.
Time is ever-present in the practice of Aishan Yu. Her photo-realistic drawings embody and reference acts of laborious patience including actions such as: weaving, painting, looking, arranging, and building. These moments underline her drawing as a durational process implicit to the depiction of a psychological experience—an interior world of dreams and shadows. Her source images are historically linked, this one selected from the archives of the German documentary photographer Hedda Morrison who resided in Beijing for a thirteen-year period from 1933 to 1946. The sense of nostalgia is disrupted by Yu with her marks of the present, spots of paint or lines of ink juxtapose the quick hand with the slow.
Aishan Yu’s focus on the centre of her paper draws one’s attention to looking in or out, whereas Simon Mathers rests the gaze on the surface of his canvas. Mathers paintings of familiar objects (sunglasses, cheese, cigarettes) and anonymous subjects materialize as studies of surface and process. His practice often draws from his daily activities; a captured moment on the bus will resurface in the studio. Often working on many pieces simultaneously, Mathers gathers and layers, reveals and conceals, drips and draws out gestural abstractions that place emphasis on the quality of the line.
Mathers’ reference to the ephemeral form is translated into one of cemented presence in the sculptures of Ulrich Strothjohann. The allegorical structures of Strothjohann’s work take up space and position the viewer in direct relationship to the object or the activity. With a focus on transformation, his work often alludes to instructions, operational manuals, and guides for activity. For Strothjohann the world is in constant motion—chains of narratives intercepting and found materials repurposed. The work begins in the everyday and moves into the realm of philosophy; forming a system of spatial planetary mechanics of relative positions.
Simon Mathers (b. 1984) lives and works in London. Recent solo exhibitions include the Musee d’Arte Contemporanea di Calasetta, Italy, 2013; The Patterns of Fur and Themes of Still and Running Water MOTINTERNATIONAL, London, 2011; and Rowing Projects, London, 2012. Recent group exhibitions include Pop Tarts James Fuentes, New York, 2013; Paradise Garage Eightyone, London, 2013; Midsummer Opening Pilar Corrias, London, 2011; Poisson d’Avril Vous Etes Ici, Amsterdam, 2011; The Salon of the Vernacular, Fishmarket Gallery, London, 2011; MOT International, London, 2010; The Drifting Canvas, Curated by Robin Footitt and Tom Cole, Cole Contemporary, London, 2010.
Ulrich Strothjohann (b.1954) lives and works in Berlin, Germany. Recent solo exhibitions include Life’s Coaching, MOTInternational, London, 2011; Enter Here / No Full Size, Galerie M29, Cologne, 2011; Galerie Andreas Höhne, Munich, 2009; Ulrich Strothjohann, MOT International, London, 2008; Shackled up / down carefully Adamski Gallery, Berlin, 2008; Gusty Winds May Exist, Adamski Gallery, Aachen, 2007; Cleaners, Koroneou Gallery, Athens, 2007 and Homemade: Autopilot, Neuer Aachener Kunstverein, Aachen, 2004. He has recently been included in selected group exhibitions including Es Gibt...There is... b-05 Art and Design Centre, Montabaur, 2012; Lager Than Life / Stranger Than Fiction, 11. Trienale Kleinplastik, Fellbach, 2010; In Good Faith, Galerie M29, Cologne, 2010; Open Plan Living, 1st Tel Aviv Biennial ART TVL, Curated by Dr Andrew Renton, 2008; Open Plan, Athens, 2008; The New Domestic Landscape, Kjubh, Cologne, 2007; Make Your Own Life, ICA, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, 2006 and touring to: The Power Plant Contemporary Art Gallery, Toronto, 2006, Henry Art Gallery, Seattle, 2007, MOCA, Miami, 2007; Open Office Three, Galerie M29, Cologne, 2006; and Not Quite Ten Years without Martin Kippenberger, MOT International, London, 2006.
Aishan Yu (b. 1981) lives and works in London. In 2009, she won the Federation of British Artists Emerging Artist Prize in The Threadneedle Prize Exhibition. Recent exhibitions include Setsuko Hara, Oriel Sycharth, Wrexham, UK, 2013; ZARDOZ, MOTInternational Project Space, London, 2012; Jerwood Drawing Prize, Jerwood Space, London, 2012; 16mm Film Screening, MK Gallery, Milton Keynes, 2012; The Theadneedle Space Launch Exhibition, Mall Galleries, London, 2012 and the The Kyffin Williams Drawing Prize, Oriel Kyffin Williams Gallery, Anglesey, 2012.