English
Deutsch
until 10.06. | #3913ARTatBerlin | Sexauer Gallery shows from 21. April 2023 the Solo exhibition Kind of Blue of the artist Caroline Kryzecki.
Caroline Kryzecki has become known in recent years for her ballpoint pen drawings consisting of thousands of lines drawn with a ruler. These drawings often have a textile feel because of the grids the lines create. Later on Kryzecki became intensively involved with weaving, which is based on a similar grid pattern. The interweaving of threads create dots of colour, which in turn produces an image. They remind us of pixels. And indeed, already at the beginning of the previous century, looms were controlled by punched cards, that means by digital data carriers.
A few years ago, Kryzecki discovered old grid paper in a weaving mill. This so-called point paper was used by textile designers to design fabrics. For her works, in the exhibition Kind of Blue, Kryzecki screen-printed black grids on paper by hand. The fields of the grid are subdivided into smaller fields, some in 8 x 8 squares, others in 4 x 9 rectangles, which in turn form a square. In the grid, Kryzecki painted thousands of semicircular shapes on each sheet with gouache or watercolour, which look like conic sections – all exclusively in blue. By changing the size and orientation of the brushstrokes, as well as modulating the shades of blue and the opacity and transparency of the paint, the works vary greatly despite their foundation in the grid.
While Kryzecki in the year 2020 was mainly experimenting for the exhibition Counting Silence by familiarizing herself with the boundaries of her new series of works, she now systematically goes in depth for her paintings for Kind of Blue. Those familiar with Kryzecki’s ballpoint pen drawings know that she has developed a notation for them, which she calls “code”. There is a whole book about these codes. As part of the work for Kind of Blue, the artist has begun to develop a notation for her grid paintings as well.
The paper for the Kind of Blue paintings all measure the same 140 x 100 cm, with one exception; in one large work, the paper measures 190 x 150 cm. In this one, the grid underneath the blue paint is also blue. Although the ballpoint pen works were drawings and the Kind of Blue grid works are paintings, there are structural similarities. In the drawings, the overlapping lines led to moiré effects, which also happens in the grid paintings but looks like if under a magnifying glass.
An important influence for Kryzecki is music. Kryzecki titled her first exhibition of grid paintings Counting Silence. This was reminiscent of John Cage. Now Kryzecki has called her exhibition Kind of Blue. And indeed, she exclusively used different shades of blue; ultramarine, indigo, Prussian, Parisian, sapphire or sky blue. Moreover, the title refers to Miles Davis’ record of the same title. Just as the musicians did not know the compositions of this legendary recording when they entered the studio, so as not to jeopardize the immediacy of their playing, Kryzecki also dispensed with a plan worked out to the last detail and rather left much to the process. And just as Kind of Blue’s pieces are limited to a few harmonies, Kryzecki also dispensed with different colours. This self-restraint allowed her to turn to other parameters: the diversity of tones, transparency, rhythm, timing, almost one would like to say – if it did not sound a bit contradictory: the visual sound.
If you ask Kryzecki about the essence of her work, despite the underlying rigid grid, she speaks above all of a game. An only apparent contradiction, because in music as in art, it is often only rules or boundaries that open up a new space for freedom, in phrasing, tone colour, etc. The same applies to voluntary self-restrictions. In modal jazz, musicians gain greater harmonic freedom through their renunciation of frequent harmonic changes. Caroline Kryzecki also renounced all colours except blue in her show. She gave herself over to only one key, or colour, but to different rhythms, moods and tones. As in music, renunciation can lead to richness. Kind of Blue? Yes! – a million kinds of Blue!
Opening: Friday, 21. April, 6pm – 9pm
Exhibition dates: Friday, 21. April until Saturday, 10. June 2023
Bildunterschrift/Image caption: Courtesy Sexauer Gallery
Exhibition Caroline Kryzecki – Sexauer Gallery | Zeitgenössische Kunst in Berlin | Contemporary Art | Ausstellungen Berlin Galerien | ART at Berlin
