until 31.08. | #4314ARTatBerlin | nüüd.berlin gallery shows from 28. June 2024 (Opening: 27.06.) the exhibition UNCANNY by Mathias Vef & friends.
nüüd.berlin gallery introduces Mathias Vef as the gallery’s new artist with the exhibition ‘Uncanny’ from 28 June 2024. In his works, the artist explores the interplay of body and identity, inspired by people who look at their bodies experimentally. Through photography, video and 3D scans, he deconstructs these bodies and uses artificial intelligence to create new surreal works that reflect the ambiguity of being human in the age of AI and synthetic reality. These works are contrasted with works by other artists to create a multi-layered field of discussion.
Mathias Vef, Angus Love 1.0, 2024, 40 x 50 cm
Mathias Vef explores the fascinating interplay of body and identity with the help of people who see their bodies as something changeable. For him, this fluidity is the means of human existence. Through photography, videos and 3D scans, he collects danced forms of ballet dancers, digitally manipulated bodybuilders, transpersons or portraits of sex workers, which he transforms and digitally collages with the help of chemical substances. With these embodiments, he creates fascinatingly surreal images, collages and choreographies that offer a utopian view of our existence.
Mathias Vef, Benedikt Groß NUCA Examples 1
Another look at our existence is taken by Mathias Vef through the supposed utopias of new technologies and AI. With his Uncanny works, he comes extremely close to the synthetic, in a physical sense, but there remains an inner distance. For as fascinating as the new appears, it often harbours an uncanny strangeness. This ambiguity, this oscillation between fascination and unease, utopia and dystopia, real and AI-generated bodies will manifest itself physically in the ‘Uncanny’ exhibition.
Rein Vollenga, Untitled, mixed media, 50 x 30 x 27 cm
In order to depict this complex field of tension, Mathias Vef has invited other artists – Jonathan Armour, Benedikt Groß, Olaf Hajek, Deni Horvatić, Thomas Kutschker, Nicole Srock.Stanley, Rein Vollenga – to enter into a dialogue with their works. For example he sculptures by Rein Vollenga add a further dimension to the utopian physicality and completely new works have been created in co-operation with the painter Olaf Hajek. Finally, the gallery is presenting the NUCA project, which has already attracted international attention, to the public for the first time: the first camera to produce live nude images. The AI-supported technology was developed together with Benedikt Groß.
Mathias Vef, Paul C14, 2024, Fine Art Print
on Hahnemühle Pearl Paper, 110 x 200 cm
Mathias Vef (*1976 in Wiesbaden) studied at the Royal College of Art in London after starting out in the natural sciences. Since 1998, he has been researching the body and identity and realising these artistically in photographs, videos and 3D scans, among other things. He is internationally recognised with numerous awards and residencies. The NUCA project with Benedikt Groß thematises generative AI and its effects on image reproduction. His works are exhibited worldwide. Mathias lives and works in Berlin.
Vernissage: Thursday, 27. June 2024, 6 pm
Exhibition period: Friday, 28. June 2024 until Saturday 31. August 2024
Artist Talk: Friday, 26. July 2024, 6 pm
Finissage with Artist Talk: Saturday, 31. August 2024, 4 pm
To the Gallery
Image caption title: Mathias Vef, Miguel Green, 2023, 80 x 60 cm
Exhibition Mathias Vef – nüüd.berlin gallery | Zeitgenössische Kunst | Contemporary Art | Exhibitions Galleries Berlin | ART at Berlin