IMAGE AND WORD - Takt Residency Group Show
Curated by Isolde Krams
Artists:
Tiffany April
Millie Gleeson
Khaled Haider
Harold Hollingsworth
Ginny Huo
Joy Ivill
Lola Karpenka
Susan Klein
Sasha Panyuta
Courtney Rodgers
Jonathan Sharav
The image of an artwork may be a glimpse into the artist’s soul. When we view an exhibition we are privileged to look and read. To give us a push in the right direction, the artist may point an arrow as it were, by giving us the title of the work. In this exhibition the artists have been asked for an artists statement. It may be interesting to see an image and whether this correlates with the words given. Millie Gleeson is asking us to follow her into a different world, her explanation gives further insight. Our understanding of a painting may add a new dimension once confronted with its explanation. Some artists in the show go as far as actually including words in the art work. Harold Hollingsworth for instance found his inspiration on the walls of Berlin, he finds beauty in the torn and destroyed posters under his feet which he translates into aesthetic hard edge patches, paintings. Words, particularly specifically chosen, can be powerful.
Joy Ivill uses words as in a comic strip, words add meaning to her images, words are an integral part of her wall hangings. To Jonathan Sharav the joy of mark making is integral, words, marks and symbols are given equal importance. Kahled Haider uses words to trick us. Words are used as in an advert, for show. Beautiful images are juxtaposed with letters. Sasha Panyuta is showing us a video piece that would not make sense without words, and Courtney Rodgers, Tiffany April, Ginny Huo and Susan Klein´s artists statement may be pertinent to the understanding of their work. But how much does an artist want to divulge? The artist is showing us a small piece of his/her world and we the onlooker may simply enjoy the images the artists have provided.
Exhibition: 20th – 28th June 2015
Opening:Friday 19th June 2015, 19-22h
Performance: Friday 19th June 2015, 20h
Lola Karpenka: On Head and Hands: Watashi Wa Rora Desu II
Tiffany April
Tiffany April is an Ottawa based Canadian artist. She has spent the last four years living and working in Montreal where she graduated from Concordia University with her BFA in studio arts; participated in group shows in Galerie VAV and FOFA, as well as an exhibition in Gallerie Luz in the Belgo Building. She is currently participating in the TAKT residency in Berlin.
Artist statement
Light is one of my main mediums, it reflects to create space within space, a phenomenon I capture through my explorations. Through reflection interior and exterior environments collide and the world created in that instant relies entirely on the position of the viewer, a breath of a moment that will never again be recreated.
Millie Gleeson is an Artist based in England, graduating in 2010 with a FashionBAHon's. Since graduating her focus has been painting large scale figurative works, dominated by a strong female form and perfused with a kaleidoscope of colours. Solo shows have included "It's all 2 much gallery" 2013 and "Sidot Arts" 2014. Currently she participates in the Berlin artist residency Takt.
Artist Statement
My painting's are staged around a strong female character. Painting women allows me to unlock a part of myself, which I feel resides in them, becoming both a transformative and reflective process. They evolve from performance based photo-shoots, integrating costume and movement. Translating this threw paint I explore my visual language via the female figure and it's expression.
Khaled Haider
Khaled Haider, graphic artist/photographer. Born in Amman- Jordan 1984. I got my art bachelor degree at Indiana state university majoring in visual arts and with a minor in art history. Later I Joined Boston University’s College of Fine Arts to pursue my master’s studies in graphic design and typography. I then worked in Art direction in Boston and Jordan in advertising and publishing industries.
Artist Statement
This picture was taken in Jordan and developed recently here in Berlin as a part of an ongoing series of works that tackle the concept of “shifting & migration”; a change in status; be it emotionally or physically. On my way to work every day I encountered these majestic yet sad herds of camels. To me they stood out as a symbol of motion; a form of “shifting” in locations. As I am also interested in criticizing the existing cultural traditions of “my” middle east through my art, this particular work also stands out as criticism to my own traditions. This is done here by perpetuating the stereotype of the Middle East in general through a camel’s butt.
These two photographs, as well as the instillation, are part of an ongoing series of work in the context of self-examination and cultural, sometimes harsh, commentary by utilizing motifs like gender hierarchy, gender roles, motion and migration as well as cultural taboos.
A native of Seattle and graduate of Western Washington University, Harold has presented 17 solo shows and participated in 38 group shows. Currently represented by Circa Gallery (Minneapolis), Fresh Paint (Los Angeles), Woodside/Braseth Gallery (Seattle), Miller Gallery (Cincinnati). His work is held in various private and corporate collections, including Bank of America, Nordstrom and Target Corporation.
Artist Statement
The work I executed in Berlin for my month residency is reflected in the two works on handmade paper, When I was last in Berlin for my winter residency in 2012, I developed a love for this place, Berlin, Fredrichshain. I have for my entire production have written into my work, and this developed into love letters to this city. I love her, the streets, the voices in the day and into the nights. It feels raw, passionate, intelligent, direct. These pieces were started in 2012, and part of a set of works I had framed and exhibited in Seattle upon my return in 2012. I brought two of these letters back, and finished them as I intended after leaving in April of 2012. It seemed fitting to finish/continue this love letter and leave these behind and when I return, continue this romance with Berlin. This city, it's artists, those who cross paths with you, on levels all, musical, poetic, random and purposeful, I feel you, I take you into my head and write to you in a raw, sincere heartfelt way. To be continued...
Mammilla Mammoth, charcoal, acrylic paint on cardboard and paper, 2.2 x 2.2 x 3.7 m (7 x 7 x 12 ft), 2015
Cross-culturalism, anxiety, and interactions based on meta-communication are re-occurring themes in Ginny Huo’s work, which is displayed through sculptural drawings and interactive installations. Ginny received her Master of Fine Arts degree at the Maryland Institute College of the Arts in Baltimore, MD. She currently lives and works in France.
Artist Statement
During the residency, Ginny was inspired to approach making in a more playful way using various materials for collages and drawings. She was influenced by natural physical and emotional human responses found in our daily life such as lactating nipples and presenting them in a monumental form.
Joy Ivill
Joy Ivill is an Australian artist who majored in Sculpture, Performance and Installation, she graduated in 2014 with a BFA (First class Honours). Ivill was put on 'The Deans List’ for exceptional academic achievement and received a public award.
Artist Statement
I tell stories, My stories are also the stories of those close to me. My work references contemporary artists' Louise Bourgeois and Tracey Emin, both of whom I consider 'confessional artists'. My studio practice can also be read as confessional. 
Lola Karpenka
Movement artist, dancer, performer, pianist and calligrapher. Fascinated by art, movement, sound, human heads and hands. Lola is exploring the way of how to disconnect and reconnect with her physical, emotional and spiritual body, with its memory and history, with so-called DARK WATERS or secrets of human existence; she challenges herself as a woman and as an artist, exposing herself to herself an to people, places, opinions and dialogue; she is trying to embrace her own insecurities and fears and have enough courage and compassion to embrace these things in other people. continuing her exploration of the human body, she is looking for power, magic and poetry in its fragility, delicacy and imperfection...
Artist Statement
ON HEAD AND HANDS: WATASHI WA RORA DESU II
First the air is blue and then
it is bluer and then green and then
black I am blacking out and yet
my mask is powerful
it pumps my blood with power
the sea is another story
the sea is not a question of power
I have to learn alone
to turn my body without force
in the deep element
The first part of the performance was presented in TAKT gallery in April 2015 at the end of Lola's residency and was presented in collaboration with other artists. The second part is her solo expedition into the depth of her body memory. Believing that the main accumulation of the body memory is in the hands, Lola uses her head and hands as main instruments and inspiration in order to rediscover and reconnect with the ~wreck~ and see the damage that was done and the treasures that prevailed.
This is the place.
And I am here, the mermaid whose dark hair
streams black, the merman in his armored body.
We circle silently
about the wreck
we dive into the hold.
I am she: I am he
(From a poem DIVING INTO THE WRECK by Adrienne Rich)
Susan Klein
Susan Klein has exhibited her work both nationally and internationally. Klein received her MFA in 2004 from University of Oregon and a BFA in 2001 from University of New Hampshire. She is currently Assistant Professor of Art at the College of Charleston.
Artist Statement
Slippage
Acccumulation and losses.
The tension between two shapes. The sky overhead. The mud beneath.
Wear and tear.
Irregular surfaces. Time piles. A dense visual obstacle course.
The gnarly terrain.
An anchor, an anvil, a tether, a veil.
A collision of the physical, the imagined, the remembered.
Shadow things.
Sasha Panyuta
Sasha Panyuta was born in 1984 on the Kamchatka peninsula of Russia and grew up in New York City. She received her BFA from the Parsons School of Design in 2006, and her MFA from the Glasgow School of Art in 2014. Her practice consists of a combination of painting, video, and collage, referencing the imagery of cinema, advertising, and popular and consumer culture, while exploring and emphasizing the absurdity of todays hyperactive visual culture, with a focus on portraiture, female identity, and the body.
Artist Statement
Text by Nicholas Shapland
"It’s reminiscent of what Godard does. I like the juxtaposition of the deep male voice and the stupid feminine image. It smells mostly European in it’s complacency to watch and be watched in that way. It certainly made me think, once, in the beginning, i figured out the dance and the English translation. It had that going for it: that shock of how truly stupid and how you could explore the depths of how stupid. “Give Happiness To Your Body Macarena” translated was powerful. It made me want more dialogue with what that means. The whole thing is deliciously brilliantly stupid. But of course I wanted to know more, once you’d posed the question of how bizarre that song is: how will she give happiness to her body? It’s almost like it exposed the pop song for what it is without truly making fun of the meaning of it even existing. It’s like satire or parody without a huge payoff. But then, it’s teasing and amplifying the idea of teasing in the way that reminds you of the brilliance of the song. I love the silence. I love the dependence on knowing the song. I like that nod. I guess what I’d ask for, after that initial wit, is something a bit more confrontational. It’s not up to me to decide what you’re doing with this song, but, there’s a part of my thinking that wants it to go more violent. The repetition of “macarena” is itself so stupidly violent, against this idea of giving happiness to yourself, and how dependent that is on what the song suggests: beauty, money, stupidity. "
Courtney Rodgers
Courtney Rodgers is an emerging Australian artist working in the discipline of sculpture. Rodgers graduated at the Adelaide Central School of Art in 2013, since had exhibited in various spaces within her local city Adelaide, and recently in 2015 had been awarded funding by Carclew Arts SA to undertake an international residency with Takt kunstprojectraum, Berlin.
Artist Statement
The Sculptural language of Courtney Rodgers is centred upon representations of human space. Found raw material is deconstructed and re-imagined into architectural configurations or furniture-like objects. There are references from the archive of socialist design and to modernisms’ functionalist aesthetic; the objects exist as both playful and reflective abstractions of this history and its materiality.
Jonathan Sharav
I am a Tel-Aviv based Israeli artist. I am currently focusing on large scale canvases in the interest and urge to work larger and larger. I have a Diploma in art from the school of Visual Theater in Jerusalem and have produced and participated in a number of solo shows and group shows in Jerusalem,Tel-Aviv and New York and Berlin. I have a collector base and good working relations with Many Galleries and art scene in Tel Aviv. I am currently wanting to establish a professional Working studio Space here in Berlin in the next 3 years.
Artist Statement
In the series that I developed here in Berlin I am continuing to work on the process and subject matters that have interested me since may 2012. New characters such as what I regard privately as the infamous “Mr Police Dr” and his child “Mr Rum Boy” the "Man Bird" and the songs of "The Chain Gang" appear in my work here in Berlin. These “broken” symbolic characters perform in the world of the “The Rum Run”, which I would generally describe as a world of dissolution, internal rumors, pointless struggle for contact, submission to the frailty of the human condition, a place where remorse is scarce and always comes at a price.
This ever changing story that I’m telling has been influencing the choice of color and composition in my painting .The evolution in my work has come very natural to me over the last 2 years, in contrast to the former years of practicing painting, when much of it was a struggle. My developing new style, incorporating language and text together with a fierce sense of urgency while painting, has produced a world of images, storylines and relationships of charterers that is evolving to a better, clearer more elaborate story, expression and freedom in my art. I am enjoying the ever growing degrees of freedom that are possible in art and the wonderful realities it gives you in life.
