Anything goes when in love
Group Exhibition with Claude Eigan, Sári Ember,
Monika Grabuschnigg, Eliška Konečná
White & Weiss Gallery, Bratislava, Slovakia
Curated by Michal Stolárik
21.07.2022 – 02.09.2022
Anything goes when in love
Exhibition view
Sea street lovers, 2022
Cardboard, acrylic resin, primer, paint, varnish, 40 x 24 x 15 cm each
Anything goes when in love
Exhibition view
Exhibition view
Supper
Host, 2020
Glazed ceramics, copper, metal, variable dimensions
Glazed ceramics, copper, metal, variable dimensions
Supper
Host, 2020
Glazed ceramics, copper, metal, variable dimensions
Glazed ceramics, copper, metal, variable dimensions
Anything goes when in love
Curated by Michal Stolárik
Exhibition Anything goes when in love is the fourth contribution to the Anything goes series – projects that have annually populated the White & Weiss Gallery in Bratislava since 2019. Simple plot lines are used for presenting current trends in contemporary European visual arts, connecting and stimulating artistic scenes and the activities of their representatives. Previous three exhibition cycles – Anything goes (2019, artists: Svetlana Fialová, Pavla Malinová, Nana Mandl, Titania Seidl), Anything goes pt. 2: Techno ed.(2020, artists: Botond Keresztesi, Nika Kupyrova, Alex Selmeci & Tomáš Kocka Jusko, Céline Struger, Nik Timková) and Anything goes pt. 3: Phoenix(2021, artists: Radek Brousil, Filip Dvořák, Šimon Chovan, Ádám Horváth, Lukas Thaler & Titania Seidl, Adam Šakový) prove the potential of exhibition set ups inducing positive reactions, mutual confrontations of artworks, and creatively stimulating dialogues. Although local audiences often embrace only the works of local artists, it is the very connections between local and international artwork, or premiere introductions of international artists in Slovakia that has become the key of this curator’s series.
Anything goes when in love – is an international exhibition, a seemingly visual essay reacting to issues of relationships, affinity, sympathies, or antipathies. The title itself, potentially a subtitle for any romantic comedy from the beginning of this century is rather ironic. It actually outlines the possible concept of a relationship, things it brings about. Be it a trivial attraction between humans, a natural inclination towards what we think we need, or an increasingly present affinity towards objects stealing our attention - relationships may be magnificent, filled with optimism or paratrophic and toxic with fatal consequences. Thus, this exhibition is not a mere romanticizing love story. Insinuated ideas of relationships become an ambivalent emotional ride, following the connections and mutual effects of objects, humans or animals. It offers a natural account of intimacy, inexplicable attraction, parasitisation, conscious or unconscious dependencies, natural gravitation and forbidden fruit.
The curator’s project represents current trends in the production of internationally active artists– Claude Eigan (France, based in Berlin), Sári Ember (Brazil, lives and works in Budapest), Monika Grabuschnigg (Austria, lives and works in Berlin) and Eliška Konečná (Czech Republic, lives and works in Prague). Their individual works depict topics directly linked to relationships, mainly through styled figural motifs, though original symbolism, metaphorical scenes or personal mythologies represent a significant part of the selection that embodies the current update of traditional artistic techniques such as ceramics, drawing, textile or ceramic paintings. Creation of most of the artworks was prompted by this exhibition. They are characterized by formal appropriations followed by the ideological repositioning of the context of original prototypes. Comeback to nature, ephemeral situations and organic materials is clearly present. One can observe bewilderment by craft, joy from physical contact with the materials used – all in stark contrast to the digitalization of the world (and) arts. Exhibited works communicate through universal language, though inspired by intimacy or personal experiences to a great extent. They are based in history and myths, spotted and processed through the principles of pop culture. Yet again, anything goes...
Curated by Michal Stolárik
Exhibition Anything goes when in love is the fourth contribution to the Anything goes series – projects that have annually populated the White & Weiss Gallery in Bratislava since 2019. Simple plot lines are used for presenting current trends in contemporary European visual arts, connecting and stimulating artistic scenes and the activities of their representatives. Previous three exhibition cycles – Anything goes (2019, artists: Svetlana Fialová, Pavla Malinová, Nana Mandl, Titania Seidl), Anything goes pt. 2: Techno ed.(2020, artists: Botond Keresztesi, Nika Kupyrova, Alex Selmeci & Tomáš Kocka Jusko, Céline Struger, Nik Timková) and Anything goes pt. 3: Phoenix(2021, artists: Radek Brousil, Filip Dvořák, Šimon Chovan, Ádám Horváth, Lukas Thaler & Titania Seidl, Adam Šakový) prove the potential of exhibition set ups inducing positive reactions, mutual confrontations of artworks, and creatively stimulating dialogues. Although local audiences often embrace only the works of local artists, it is the very connections between local and international artwork, or premiere introductions of international artists in Slovakia that has become the key of this curator’s series.
Anything goes when in love – is an international exhibition, a seemingly visual essay reacting to issues of relationships, affinity, sympathies, or antipathies. The title itself, potentially a subtitle for any romantic comedy from the beginning of this century is rather ironic. It actually outlines the possible concept of a relationship, things it brings about. Be it a trivial attraction between humans, a natural inclination towards what we think we need, or an increasingly present affinity towards objects stealing our attention - relationships may be magnificent, filled with optimism or paratrophic and toxic with fatal consequences. Thus, this exhibition is not a mere romanticizing love story. Insinuated ideas of relationships become an ambivalent emotional ride, following the connections and mutual effects of objects, humans or animals. It offers a natural account of intimacy, inexplicable attraction, parasitisation, conscious or unconscious dependencies, natural gravitation and forbidden fruit.
The curator’s project represents current trends in the production of internationally active artists– Claude Eigan (France, based in Berlin), Sári Ember (Brazil, lives and works in Budapest), Monika Grabuschnigg (Austria, lives and works in Berlin) and Eliška Konečná (Czech Republic, lives and works in Prague). Their individual works depict topics directly linked to relationships, mainly through styled figural motifs, though original symbolism, metaphorical scenes or personal mythologies represent a significant part of the selection that embodies the current update of traditional artistic techniques such as ceramics, drawing, textile or ceramic paintings. Creation of most of the artworks was prompted by this exhibition. They are characterized by formal appropriations followed by the ideological repositioning of the context of original prototypes. Comeback to nature, ephemeral situations and organic materials is clearly present. One can observe bewilderment by craft, joy from physical contact with the materials used – all in stark contrast to the digitalization of the world (and) arts. Exhibited works communicate through universal language, though inspired by intimacy or personal experiences to a great extent. They are based in history and myths, spotted and processed through the principles of pop culture. Yet again, anything goes...
The minimalistically tuned, albeit ample installation by Claude Eigan
(b. 1983, Saint-Germain-en-Laye, France, live and work in Berlin) opens the exhibition. Their productions are characterised by an attraction to sculptures, inspired by contemporary poetry, objects of daily life as well as various biological materials chosen from their natural environment. Then they deconstruct them, monumentalize them, transforming their colours and forms. Anxious jittery feelings resulting from a twisted reality come as a result; reality that takes over familiar details or specific elements activating the memory and stimulating personal imagination. A parasitic series of elegant ceramic objects Supper Host (2020) spreads on the gallery walls, luring us with its organic, shiny shapes and glossy enamels. A closer look unveils styled bodies of ticks – parasites searching for their hosts and sucking on their blood. The odds are high one could contract a disease from them, which naturally defines this as a one-way beneficial relationship, but still, their attractive look is dangerously captivating. The installation is combined with a monumentalized trivial object: a beer cap (Sea Street Lovers, 2022) inspired by this exhibition. Eigan transform it into a surreal vision of pearl shells intentionally positioned somewhere on the brink of a kiss and a bite. Eigan create a romantic and ironic ode to summer (or efemeral) love adventures from the sizzling streets of Berlin.
Photography by Adam Šakový