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until 19.06. | #3031ARTatBerlin | Galerie Martin Mertens shows from 28th April 2021 the group show Art Figurativa with works by Robert Bosisio, Peter Demetz, Domenico Grenci and Bruno Walpoth.
The exhibition with four artists (two painters and two sculptors) gives an insight into the extremely lively artistic production in the field of figurative art in South Tyrol and Upper Italy.
The more than 400-year-old tradition of figurative carving in Val Gardena, which has made a great name for itself in the field of sacred and profane wood art, has produced a group of sculptors in the last 20 years who have brought figurative contemporary sculpture to new heights at the highest technical level and are successful worldwide. Here we present two of them Peter Demetz and Bruno Walpoth. In the field of painting, we are showing new works by Robert Bosisio, who has also been strongly concerned with the image of man in recent years and was voted Artist of the Year in South Tyrol in 2020. In addition, there is Domenico Grenci, a painter and draughtsman from Bologna, who also deals almost exclusively with the human figure and even more specifically with portraits.
Robert Bosisio (*1963) works on his pictures over very long periods of time by constantly applying new layers of paint (up to 20 layers), scraping off or washing off parts again and mixing materials such as pure pigment, sand, ash and a wide variety of colour materials. Common to all the paintings is the oscillation between representational motif and the disappearance of the motif in favour of the surface structure and the colour sound in the picture. The result is a highly complex image in which the portrayed persons or parts of the body appear removed and blurred as if behind a veil. They are thus depersonalised and take on something archetypal.
Robert Bosisio, o.T. (Petrus Christus),
Mixed media on canvas, 140 x 102 cm, 2021
Peter Demetz (*1969) plays with the spatial imagination of the viewer. He assigns his figures a fixed architectural space, which, however, remains completely open and undefined. Through the strict reduction of these stage-like spaces, all attention is focused on the figures. The architectural surfaces are more of a projection surface for the viewer, whose imagination is left to assign a concrete story or possible action to the figures in these spaces. The lighting and architectural stage make the relief figures, which are only a few millimetres thin, appear three-dimensional and give them liveliness. Adam Budak very appropriately calls them “small theatres of human affairs and private worlds”.
Peter Demetz, The First Time,
Lime wood, acrylic colours, LED light, 115 x 100 x 29 cm, 2020
The Bolognese painter Domenico Grenci (*1981) focuses his work on portraits. Using a mixture of oil, red chalk and charcoal, he creates extremely delicate pictures in which the portrayed persons seem to appear only fleetingly. They appear very vulnerable and reserved, as if they only dare to cautiously venture out into the world through the surface of the paper. Despite these facial features, which are usually only lightly hinted at, the sitters radiate a great calm and individuality.
Domenico Grenci, Michelle,
Bitumen, oil, charcoal, red chalk on canvas, 150 x 120 cm, 2020
All the figures by Bruno Walpoth (*1959) are created in direct contact with real models without using photos as an intermediate step. They are people from his living environment whose character he is able to capture in such a unique way in the figure that they often appear very touching and intimate to the viewer. He seeks a balance between pose and completely natural posture, between a generally valid image of man in certain postures and forms of expression and individual expression. Those portrayed often appear vulnerable, very reserved, almost shy. In a certain way, they elude the exploratory gaze of the viewer, but at the same time they are deeply touching.
Bruno Walpoth, Time To Be Free,
Walnut, coloured frame, 69 x 37 x 28 cm, 2020
Unfortunately, due to the current restrictions to protect against Covid 19, there will be no opening. However, a 360-degree panorama tour will be created at the beginning of May, which we will then publish. We will also be happy to send photos of the exhibition and the individual works on request.
According to the current status, the exhibition can be visited by appointment.
Exhibition dates: Wednesday, 28 April to Saturday, 13 June 2021 Attention: Extended until Saturday, 17. July 2021
To the Gallery
Exhibition Art Figurativa – Galerie Martin Mertens | Zeitgenössische Kunst in Berlin | Contemporary Art | Exhibitions Berlin Galleries | ART at Berlin
