Artnews Projects

Thermal Comfort

16 Nov - 22 Dec 2007

'Thermal Comfort' curated by Alex Nogueras
Wilfredo Prieto / Ignacio Uriarte
Annelise Coste / Rafel G. Bianchi
Paul Ekaitz / François-Xavier Courrèges
Ignacio Uriarte / Ester Partegàs
Annelise Coste
Rafel G. Bianchi
Invite: Wilfredo Prieto, Paseo, 2000
THERMAL COMFORT

16 November - 22 December 2007
Opening reception: 16 November, Friday, 7-11 pm

Annelise Coste, Rafel G. Bianchi, François-Xavier Courrèges, Paul Ekaitz, Ivan Grubanov, Ester Partegàs, Wilfredo Prieto, Ignacio Uriarte

curated by Alex Nogueras

Thermal Comfort is the state of mind that expresses satisfaction with the surrounding environment. The works in the exhibition relate to what we would like to convey from our gallery programme: a specific mindset, a disposition that is our own.

When asked to produce an exhibition of the gallery artists for Artnews projects, one faces the enormous responsibility of delivering a presentation of the gallery trajectory in Berlin. Our programme, which we have been developing over the past four years, is somehow a complex amalgam of study, personal taste, emotions, and also a hint of chance. Exhibitions follow each other in a very paced manner; every couple of months we change our habitat and we have to adapt our daily routine into whatever new installation, artwork or design than an artist has proposed for our gallery space. In this flow of exhibitions we find a unique way of getting to know the artwork, we work with it and we sense it every minute of our working day. We like to think that some of it comes with us home, maybe not physically, but its presence is always nearby.

In this mapping of intents the grafitties of Annelise Coste dialogue with the scribbles of Courrèges and the obsessive monochrome drawings of Ignacio Uriarte. On a more conceptual approach, these enslaving forms of expression emphasize with Ester Partegas’ “Black House”, and the heavyweight billboard on top of it. Wilfredo Prieto’s “Walk” piece makes reference to freedom and the roads we take to achieve it, and Ivan Grubanov’s video of fireworks shows the celebration after the struggle. Back to the protection of the artist’s studio, Paul Ekaitz shows the craftsmanship of beaux-arts, and the tempo required in the making. Also underlining the issue of artistic production, Rafel G Bianchi takes a 1923 Bauhaus design and transforms it into a sculpture.

Some of the pieces exhibited in this occasion have cohabited with us in the gallery, some we encounter for the first time. In any case they define the spirit of NoguerasBlanchard as a gallery, as a production centre and as a workplace. These artworks and the artists have become the voice of the gallery, clear and loud in the periphery of the artworld that means operating in Barcelona, but we hope also audible in the bigger picture that we encounter with this presentation in Berlin.
 

Tags: Rafel G. Bianchi, Anne-Lise Coste, Annelise Coste, François-Xavier Courrèges, Paul Ekaitz, Ivan Grubanov, Ester Partegás, Wilfredo Prieto, Ignacio Uriarte