Trey Abdella, Botond Keresztesi, Olga Mikh Fedorova
Clusterfuck
23 Mar - 20 Apr 2019
TREY ABDELLA, BOTOND KERESZTESI, OLGA MIKH FEDOROVA
Clusterfuck
23 March – 20 April 2019
curated by Sigrid Hermann
A chaotic situation in a complex environment caused by communication failure is what we call a clusterfuck. Rather than moving to an organized productive structure an accumulation of entities that happen simultaneously can lead to a literal disaster. Living in a hyper fascinating moment where increasingly complicated and bracketed world views come curated together, the contemporary culture surrounds itself with codified solutions to cope with this undistributed chaos. Mostly, what we describe as a structured and organized surface, such as a screen, is only the facade of a hyper complex conglomeration of data and communication systems. Plunging into the depths of the Internet’s obsessions and transgressions, we assemble an unsettling parade of images from the mundane to the dreamy and the sublime, presenting the full breadth and depth of human desires. To enter these imaginative or creative worlds you no longer need a TOR browser but only your mind. We proudly present Clusterfuck an exhibition filled with imagination unbound.
Trey Abdella’s captivating paintings depict assemblages of spaces inhabited by a broad range of characters found in movies, cartoons and internet memes. In his cohesive playful scenes, the richness of imagination generates a distorted reality where its characters seem to live an independent life. The protagonists inhabiting the canvasses seem to lose themselves in absurdist subject matters captured in stressful and apocalyptic scenarios. By working with variety of materials and techniques, the artist creates a contemporaneity of icons from visual culture decades ago with a coming-of-age notion.
By combining the realms of dream and reality, reflections of images absorbed in everyday life such as digital images, internet surfaces, cybernated realties, infomercials, pop and avant-garde culture Botond Keresztesi’s drawings create yet unknown but uncannily familiar microcosms. Fragments of antique heads and sculptures, blending in with contemporary technologies, lead to a continuation of visual history in a virtual unset space. Using pictorial quotes the artist opens up the gap between flatness and deep imagination and creates humorous, yet insistent compositions.
In large lenticular prints Olga Mikh Fedorova investigates the contemporary obsessions evolving through modern technology. Anonymous female figures masked by motorcycle helmets or fictional animal heads are placed in raw and sterile landscapes. While male power is replaced by wild animals such as gorillas, dogs or alligators, female power is indicated in a reciprocal absence or presence of spiky, fleecy clothing. This unease in display reflects on the difficulty of the mind battling with the unemotional coolness of technology, providing the viewer with a surrealistic 3D puzzle that often feels like a snapshot from a science fiction narrative.
Overlapping of assemblages of motion, emotions and temporalities link the works in the exhibition. Finding a balance between common viewing habits and strange juxtapositions of subjects and objects, the artists play with notions of familiarity and challenge our viewing habits. Working with different types of media, Abdella, Keresztesi and Fedorova find a way to present the topics of ambiguity and uncertainty as a common contemporary state of mind.
“Imagination, life is your creation” – Aqua, Barbie Girl
Trey Abdella (*1993), Lives and works in New York. Recent group presentations include: The New York Academy Of Art, Garvey|Simon, New York, NY (2019); Mount Analogue, Seattle, WA; Jankossen Contemporary, New York, NY; Rema Hort Mann Foundation, New York, NY (all 2018).
Botond Keresztesi (*1987), Lives and works in Budapest. Recent exhibitions include: Litost Gallery, Prague; Schimmel Projects, Dresden; Storage Capacité, Berlin; Damien & The Love Guru, Brussels (all 2019). Hungarian National Gallery, Budapest; Kunstfort, Vijhuizen; Future Gallery, Berlin; Bikini Space, Basel (all 2018).
Olga Mikh Fedorova (*1980), Lives and works in Brussels. She had solo shows among others at Art4Museum, Moscow (2019); Annka Kultys, London (2018, 2017); Galerie Charlot, Paris (2018). Her latest group exhibitions include: DASH, Kortrijk (2019); Künstlerhaus, Halle für Kunst und Medien ,Graz (2018); Haus der Elektronischen Künste, Basel (2018); Kunsthaus Langenthal, Langenthal (2017)
Clusterfuck
23 March – 20 April 2019
curated by Sigrid Hermann
A chaotic situation in a complex environment caused by communication failure is what we call a clusterfuck. Rather than moving to an organized productive structure an accumulation of entities that happen simultaneously can lead to a literal disaster. Living in a hyper fascinating moment where increasingly complicated and bracketed world views come curated together, the contemporary culture surrounds itself with codified solutions to cope with this undistributed chaos. Mostly, what we describe as a structured and organized surface, such as a screen, is only the facade of a hyper complex conglomeration of data and communication systems. Plunging into the depths of the Internet’s obsessions and transgressions, we assemble an unsettling parade of images from the mundane to the dreamy and the sublime, presenting the full breadth and depth of human desires. To enter these imaginative or creative worlds you no longer need a TOR browser but only your mind. We proudly present Clusterfuck an exhibition filled with imagination unbound.
Trey Abdella’s captivating paintings depict assemblages of spaces inhabited by a broad range of characters found in movies, cartoons and internet memes. In his cohesive playful scenes, the richness of imagination generates a distorted reality where its characters seem to live an independent life. The protagonists inhabiting the canvasses seem to lose themselves in absurdist subject matters captured in stressful and apocalyptic scenarios. By working with variety of materials and techniques, the artist creates a contemporaneity of icons from visual culture decades ago with a coming-of-age notion.
By combining the realms of dream and reality, reflections of images absorbed in everyday life such as digital images, internet surfaces, cybernated realties, infomercials, pop and avant-garde culture Botond Keresztesi’s drawings create yet unknown but uncannily familiar microcosms. Fragments of antique heads and sculptures, blending in with contemporary technologies, lead to a continuation of visual history in a virtual unset space. Using pictorial quotes the artist opens up the gap between flatness and deep imagination and creates humorous, yet insistent compositions.
In large lenticular prints Olga Mikh Fedorova investigates the contemporary obsessions evolving through modern technology. Anonymous female figures masked by motorcycle helmets or fictional animal heads are placed in raw and sterile landscapes. While male power is replaced by wild animals such as gorillas, dogs or alligators, female power is indicated in a reciprocal absence or presence of spiky, fleecy clothing. This unease in display reflects on the difficulty of the mind battling with the unemotional coolness of technology, providing the viewer with a surrealistic 3D puzzle that often feels like a snapshot from a science fiction narrative.
Overlapping of assemblages of motion, emotions and temporalities link the works in the exhibition. Finding a balance between common viewing habits and strange juxtapositions of subjects and objects, the artists play with notions of familiarity and challenge our viewing habits. Working with different types of media, Abdella, Keresztesi and Fedorova find a way to present the topics of ambiguity and uncertainty as a common contemporary state of mind.
“Imagination, life is your creation” – Aqua, Barbie Girl
Trey Abdella (*1993), Lives and works in New York. Recent group presentations include: The New York Academy Of Art, Garvey|Simon, New York, NY (2019); Mount Analogue, Seattle, WA; Jankossen Contemporary, New York, NY; Rema Hort Mann Foundation, New York, NY (all 2018).
Botond Keresztesi (*1987), Lives and works in Budapest. Recent exhibitions include: Litost Gallery, Prague; Schimmel Projects, Dresden; Storage Capacité, Berlin; Damien & The Love Guru, Brussels (all 2019). Hungarian National Gallery, Budapest; Kunstfort, Vijhuizen; Future Gallery, Berlin; Bikini Space, Basel (all 2018).
Olga Mikh Fedorova (*1980), Lives and works in Brussels. She had solo shows among others at Art4Museum, Moscow (2019); Annka Kultys, London (2018, 2017); Galerie Charlot, Paris (2018). Her latest group exhibitions include: DASH, Kortrijk (2019); Künstlerhaus, Halle für Kunst und Medien ,Graz (2018); Haus der Elektronischen Künste, Basel (2018); Kunsthaus Langenthal, Langenthal (2017)