ABOVE AND BEYOND presents the imagined worlds of 6 artists – three from Berlin and three from London. Each artist shares a desire to alter or extend the familiar through the exploration of fictional spaces, hypothetical structures / events, or alternate identities. Initiated by a meeting between the artists Johanna Oenicke and Tamsin Morse, Above And Beyond is curated by TRANSIT SPACE as part of Berlin-London, a cultural exchange running throughout 2002 seeking to establish relationships between the two art communities. In keeping with the aims of the exchange, the exhibition will relocate to KUNSTPUNKT BERLIN gallery in Berlin this September, where the artists will seek to extend their ideas while referencing the initial exhibition.
Fiona Carabine's (UK) work explores her relationship with the environment. As in a scientific experiment, her work documents theoretical spatial interventions and hypothetical events within a real landscape, to create alternative rhythms of nature. These ‘simulations’ are presented in the form of drawings.
Roderick Harris’s (UK) paintings present a series of dramas around the theme of escape. His painterly landscapes present structures either in decay or at the point of collapse. Each fictional scenario captures a single moment in which Harris’s dark humour reveals a psychological portrait that is both epic and feeble.
Pauline Kraneis' (D) drawings map out imaginary worlds composed of discontinued architectural forms derived from technical drawings and ground plans. The artist pursues these ‘abandoned’ ideas and allows the structures to develop and evolve, creating a world that could have been.
Susanne Lorenz (D) draws on the history of European and Asian garden culture to create landscapes and fields of play that recall other cultures and notions of place. Her garden installations and objects focus on cultivated nature, travel motifs, sport and the internet as a means to transport the viewer within a single location.
Tamsin Morse’s (UK) paintings are derived from fashion photography and portray female figures that appear to be lost in some form of role play. The clothing provides a clue to the fantasy world the figures have created for themselves, while also referencing the marketed ideal of self-image generated within the fashion industry.
Johanna Oenicke (D) recycles architectural structures, disassembling them and then recombining the elements
in her paintings to create imagined spaces. The process continues in her videos, where the artist re-presents classical paintings, inviting an alternative interpretation of the characters and the world they inhabit.
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