 |
STEVEN
BLACK / FRANK HÖHLE
Opening, Sa. 04.03.2006, 6pm
07.03.2006 - 15.04.2006 |
In his second exhibition in the gallery, Steven Black shows paintings and photographs together with photographic work by Frank Höhle. Both artists concern themselves in similar fashion with the figure, which always assumes a central position within surrounds reduced to a minimum. The figure sits or stands in a white space and is shown from a series of gradually shifting perspectives. The dyptichons and tryptichons confine themselves to the representation of the immobile figure without references to their social status or psychical state. Posture, appearance and clothing demarcate the content of the images. The two media constrain respectively the treatment of the surface. Steven Black attempts to penetrate and deform the faces with multiple layers of thick paint in order to reassemble them, which nevertheless remain "mere" representations of persons.
There is a palpable difference in the temporality of the two media: The short instant of photographing contrasts distinctly to the time-intensive painting sessions.
The hermetic distinction between the thing represented in the image and its observer emphasizes the fact that the images are not performing narratives but addressing the figures and their relation to space. Chairs, tables, white walls surround the figures. Occasionally the space is reduced to a white field, increasing the isolation of the figure in a type of void.
|
|
