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until 21.10. | #4025ARTatBerlin | Meyer Riegger shows from 16 September 2023 the exhibition “VIBR ANX 80” by the artist Jana Schröder.
When it comes to painting, Jana Schröder has always imposed rules on herself. The works in her PERLASYNTHIC , NEUSEC , and HAWO series , however, which are now on view for the first time at Meyer Riegger , are di ff erent: Schröder works more freely , there are n o longer any fixed rules. As the artist herself says, “I tried to do everything possible with colour here. The one rule here was probably that I was allowed to do any thing.”
These are some of the rules that are normally in force: only two colours, r ound shapes only , and no corners. Or: n o interrupted lines, only continuous ones. If she breaks a rule , but the visual result makes sense, then adapted rules will follow. In this way, Schröder systematically re – evaluates the fundamental mechanisms of paint ing. These restrictions enable her to find the freedom of her own pictorial language time and time again .
Before Schröder began the PERLASYNTHIC series in 2021, she tended to work with oil paints. The paintings shown in the exhibition , however, are in acr ylic. With this decision , Schröder present s her painterly oeuvre from a completely new perspective.
Jana Schröder, PERLASYNTHIC S3, 2023, acrylic on canvas, 120 x 95 cm, Photo: Johannes Bendzulla
The new acrylic paintings are polychrome . In previous series, such as NEUROSOX , but also in one of her current series, NEUSEC – which has three works on display in the show – Schröder prefers to work with only two competing colours, or colo u rs in the same spectrum, as seen in the SPECSHIFT series. Her KINKRUSTRATIONS only use dark b lue. In the monochrome images of this series, which began in 2013, the multiple layers of solid, crusty paint make it virtually impossible to deconstruct how the works were painted.
Schröder is still interested in experimenting with the legibility of the painting process today . The paint in her new acrylic paintings is bright ly coloured and fluidly applied. Despite its impulsive nature, t his new transparency allows us to reconstruct the sometimes abrupt, sometimes measured formation of the se webs of colo u r down to the ir deepest levels. At times her line s display a gestural vigour , at other times meticulous precision and consistency . What is fascinating is how the artis t manages to view the painting process from an external perspective and make conscious decisions while simultaneously understanding how to let go, how to relinquish control.
Whether Schröder works with or without a set of rules, the first layer she paints is always free. She is interested in the response to this initial step . Everything that follows is a visible decision. Her paintings thus negotiate the relationships between lines and surfaces. No pictorial eleme nt can exist without the other. On the one hand, this results in a finished construction; on the other hand, the emphasis on relationships hints at the fact that in the time it took the artist to make a decision about her work , a n entirely di ff erent one wo uld have also been possible. As a result of this direct, spontaneous painting style, which she uses to colourfully capture her sequences of reaction s on the canvas, Schröder reveals the dimensions of an essential concept that gives rhythm to life: time.
Jana Schröder, NEUSEC L3, 2023, acrylic on canvas, 240 x 200 cm, Photo: Johannes Bendzulla
But what does conscious even mean today? And how do we perceive time? The title of the exhibition not only gives a concrete indication of why Schröder might have decided to ignore all the rules for her new works , but also refers to the condit ions of our consciousness and our sense of time. These are currently governed by the constraints of constant digital accessibility. VIBR ANX 80 is an abbreviation for a condition known as “v ibranxiety ” . Su ff erers imagine that their mobile phone is vibrating , even when it is not ringing . The artist herself says that her acrylic paintings are based on distraction rather than conforming to rules and thus correspond to the fast pace of life in our digital age.
In her works, Schröder ex amines topical questions about the conditions and legitimacy of contemporary painting. The show invites the viewer to experience the immediate e ff ects of the painte d results of these explorations and to feel the vibration of colours – instead of their mobi le phone.
Jana Schröder (*1983, Brilon) was a student in Albert Oehlen’s class at the Kunstakademie Düsseldorf from 2005 to 2009 . She has recently had s olo exhibitions at the Kunstverein Reutlingen, the Kunststation Sankt Peter in Cologne, the Kunstverein Heppenheim , and the Kopfermann – Fuhrmann Stiftung in Düsseldorf. In 2019/2020, her works were part of the group show Jetzt! Junge Malerei in Deutschland , which was on view at the Kunstmuseum Bonn, the Mu seum Wiesbaden, the Kunstsammlungen Chemnitz, and the Deichtorhallen Hamburg. In addition to t his , Schröder ’ s work has been presented in group exhibitions at international venues including the Aïshti Foundation, Beirut ; the Pinakothek der Moderne, Munich ; and the Yves Klein Archive, Paris. VIBR ANX 80 is her first solo exhibition at Meyer Riegger.
Vernissage: Friday, 15 September 2023, 6 p.m.
Ausstellungsdaten: Saturday, 16 September – Saturday, 21 Oktober 2023
To the Gallery
Caption title: Jana Schröder, HAWO VL 2, 2023 acrylic on canvas, 220 x 260 cm, Photo: Johannes Bendzulla
Exhibition Jana Schröder – Meyer Riegger | Contemporary Art – Kunst in Berlin | Exhibitions Berlin Galleries | ART at Berlin
