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until 20.04. | #4220ARTatBerlin | Dorothée Nilsson Gallery currently shows the duo exhibition being human, being material by the artists Gerry Johansson and Andreas Johnen.
What is human, what is material? Materiality is a fundamental dimension of human existence. We, as living bodies, are worldly creatures interacting with our surroundings in profound ways that shape the whole of material reality. In turn, we are constantly constructed and shaped by everything to which we are connected. Being human, being material, featuring artworks from Gerry Johansson and Andreas Johnen, is a dialogue between the two artists within and across photography, works on paper and sculpture.
Gerry Johansson, Uwajima, Japan, 1999
Gerry Johansson is known for capturing towns scattered across the globe, particularly in the United States, Sweden, and Germany. His primary objective is to showcase the influence individuals have on their surrounding environments and how cities evolve over time. His independent, layered visual language is the central thread that connects the places aesthetically with each other. At the same time, it allows the viewer to decode deep cultural differences down to the slightest material detail of what is shown, be it the outline of a hill or a roof’s construction line. In his series Ehime, he focuses his creative energy on unveiling the environment surrounding the Japanese people, as opposed to the people themselves. He works with three natural elements – rock, water, and foliage – to mirror the exceptional beauty of the region. He takes his camera to the rocks and mountain streams of Nametoko Valley, deep inside forests teeming with life, and to the waters of the Seto Inland Sea. Metropolitan scenes also captivate him. He turns his lens toward encapsulating urban harshness, ironically contrasting it with the unexpected relief brought by the green and foliage.
Andreas Johnen, installation image, 2023
Andreas Johnen’s work is an abstract combination of thought and manual skill. With his emphasis on repetition, time, and process, he follows in the tradition of conceptual minimalists, for whom the art object coincides with the labor through which it is produced. All his artworks are reduced yet sublimated to their pure physical elements. He creates sensual sculptures made of concrete and foam to make the forces of their material interaction visible. He also uses different methods to saturate paper with color: he applies the paint until the paper can hold no more. In his recent series, papers are dipped in color continuously over the course of several months. These black and white squares hang like handkerchiefs on the wall as though recovering from the shock of two elements, paint and paper, becoming one with time. With this technique, each color transforms into a solid material of its own, consuming the paper as if a color were a substance, or an ultimate purpose, not just a means.
Exhibition dates: Sunday, 10. March – Saturday, 20. April 2024
To the Gallery
Image caption title: Gerry Johansson, Iyomishima, Japan, 1999
Exhibition Gerry Johansson + Andreas Johnen – Dorothée Nilsson Gallery | Zeitgenössische Kunst in Berlin | Contemporary Art | Exhibitions Berlin Galleries | ART at Berlin
