Thomas Schulte

On Friday, February 7th, Galerie Thomas Schulte will open the exhibition one day soon with new works by Iris Schomaker. The Berlin-based artist's current works are paintings done on paper, in which she plays within the bounds of figurative representation and painterly abstraction. In contrast to earlier works, in which traces of the painting process and graphic form-finding stand in the foreground, Schomaker's new works have a stronger sense of graphic composition, along with an extendet palette of bold colors. Abstract surfaces and thythmic, crystalline forms combine to create spatial situations, where Schomaker's characters develop an iconic presence. The individual figures, whose faces become blurred and unrecognizable by the artist, simultaneously offers the viewer a projection sufrace as wll as avoiding him entirely.

In the Corner Space of the gallery, a small group of works by the sculptor, Leunora Salihu, will be on display, cooperating with Thomas Schulte for the first time. Salihu manages to create complex forms out of a variety of different materials, which evokes a plethora of associations within the viewer. Dealing with her own body, the artist considers this paramount in the development of her bodies of space. Her site specific work for the Corner Space, Wurf, suggests movement through the rhythmic repetition of its individual elements. The lightness and fragility of the construction is, thus, contrasted by the actual weight of the material.