Eva Berendes in
conversation with Curator Louise Hutchinson | Sat 19 Feb |
4.00pm
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S1 Artspace is pleased to present a solo
exhibition of new commissioned work by the Berlin based artist Eva Berendes.
People and Events will be the Decoration presents a series of new
sculptures displayed across the gallery against the backdrop of a new
large-scale curtain installation in what she refers to as a loose
‘parcours’ of objects. People and Events will be the
Decoration is Berendes’ first solo exhibition in a UK public
venue.
Eva Berendes’ practice draws on the history and language of
abstract painting in conjunction with the application of craft and applied arts.
Her works frequently refer to decorative objects usually associated with
domestic settings such as curtains, screens, throws and wall hangings. Dominant
surfaces are exposed through a subtle process of concealment and disclosure. The
making process is uncovered and in doing so Berendes destabilises any rigid
understanding of the object. Berendes creates work that simultaneously suggests
both simplicity and complexity - it is her integration of both the fine and
applied arts that highlights the contradictions, tensions and ultimate validity
of this division by bringing them both to the fore.
People and Events will be the
Decoration
includes a series of new sculptural objects that, in their presentation,
resemble the stratified spatial arrangement of a theatrical stage set. This form
of presentation underlines the two-dimensional nature of Berendes’
sculpture, which predominantly have both a front and back, closely connecting
them to the concept of painting. However, unlike traditional painting, Berendes
pays equal consideration to the back of her works and in doing so transforms the
relationship of image and image-support into a more symbiotic relationship. The
main protagonists in the exhibition, are three intensely coloured freestanding
screens fabricated from perforated sheet metal supported by a fine brass
framework from the rear. Set against the backdrop of a large silk curtain,
these objects face the viewer as they enter the gallery, whilst the
‘back’ of the objects disclose the making and construction
process.
Two expansive sculptures assembled
from white card suggest architectural fragments or retail display units. These
thin temporary like structures with exposed hollow interiors imply a mock-up or
prop. Marked out across the surface is a grid drawing that suggests industrial
tiles. The site of real ceramic, however, is occupied by found vases and jugs,
whose coloured figures have been ‘displayed’ on the sculptures.
Whether these structures function as a plinth or stage for the ceramics, or
conversely, whether the ceramics are intended as decorative pretext for the
sculptures, is left unclear.
The plaster reliefs in
the exhibition are purposefully left raw and under-determined revealing their
production process by exposing the imprint of the board on which they were cast.
Their simplicity recalls fragments of brutalist
a
rchitecture and forms a discreet counterpoint to the other works in the
exhibition.
Eva Berendes was
born in 1974 and studied MA Fine Art at Chelsea College of Art & Design.
Parallel to her exhibition at S1 Artspace, her work is being exhibited in the
following exhibitions: Construction and its Shadow at Leeds City Art
Gallery (until 5 June 2011), Making is Thinking, Witte de With,
Rotterdam (until 1 May 2011), Der Menschen Klee, KIT, Düsseldorf
(until 3 April 2011) and Madame Realism, MARRES, Center for
Contemporary Culture, Maastricht (12 March until 5 June 2011). A solo
exhibition of new work will open at Ancient & Modern, London on the
16
of March and a publication documenting People
a
nd Events will be the Decoration will be launched on the
occasion.
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