English
Deutsch
until 12.03. | #3306ARTatBerlin | Galerie Martin Mertens shows from 29th January 2022 the solo exhibition Update by the artist Peer Kriesel.
Having already presented the Berlin artist Peer Kriesel at fairs in Berlin and Amsterdam since 2020, Galerie Martin Mertens is now showing this versatile work for the first time in a solo exhibition at the gallery.
The central medium of his work is drawing, although he also works with sculptures and objects. One of the groups of works comprises drawings/overpaintings on historical papers, such as land and sea maps as well as postcards, which in the past had certain functions and sometimes a high value for the users. It is also about the change in the appreciation and valuation of printed papers as communication and information media. While nautical charts were extremely important and valuable until the 19th and 20th centuries and were very helpful sources of information, in the age of GPS and Google they have largely lost their function and thus their value. They now only have a graphic value. By painting over them, Kriesel gives them a new life and a new value in a different context. Kriesel draws inspiration for his drawings from the structures, markings, dates and colours of the historical picture supports and populates them with an unfathomable universe of grimaces, mythical creatures and figures drawn with the finest of strokes.
His entire oeuvre is strongly influenced by the age of digitalisation. It is about values, the acceleration of communication, the change in perception and the inflationary consumption of art and media. Symbolically, the works of the map overpaintings deal with orientation in an age of an abundance of data, influences, impressions and messages that can no longer be grasped and classified in an unstructured way today.
Peer Kriesel, 90110, Übermalung / Achim – Aquarell/ Pigmenttinte auf Papier, 20,5 x 19 cm, 2020
The “Achim” group occupies a special position in Kriesel’s work. This series of works includes overpaintings of old postcards, documents and papers from the estate of his great-uncle Achim. They tell a personal, but also forgotten story, and on old, aesthetically exciting backgrounds and undercoats, new figures and a world from the present day emerge in contrast.
In addition to old postcards from the family, the papers and documents also come from a period of war captivity during and after the Second World War. The analogue short messages on postcards from the field post attempt to convey emotions on weeks of uncertain mail and stand in stark contrast to today’s Twitter or Messenger messages.
Galerie Martin Mertens also shows examples of his Wimmelbilder, in which Kriesel immerses the viewer in a fairytale, almost fabulous world. At the same time, he confronts the viewer with the absurd real world of data flow, stimulus and information overload – a world full of violence and frustration, but also absurdities and humorous weirdness. In his pictures, the viewer can lose himself and often observe a multitude of different sceneries. These “hidden object pictures” cannot be deciphered at first glance – so the viewer can always discover new themes and things. In addition to the geometric forms, Peer Kriesel tries to bring order to the teeming masses in his series of works Lines, Essences and The Blocks.
Peer Kriesel, Raus aus der Grauzone,
Aquarell / Acryl / Pigmenttinte auf Papier, 55 x 44 cm, 2021
In the ME SO SMALL installations in combination with the wall or with objects such as rare car models, the artist supposedly becomes a vandal. He draws a grimace on the wall or the model with a gestural stroke. This action devalues or even damages the valuable object on the one hand, but at the same time enhances its value and elevates it to the status of an art object. This contradiction particularly appeals to the artist, because in a time in which the production and consumption of creative works or “merely” beautiful things are becoming almost inflationary, the general ideas of value are also shifting. In the interaction with the wall on site, Kriesel counters the fast-moving times with something: the fixed installation.
Exhibition start: Saturday, 29 January 2022 from 1:00 p.m., no vernissage due to the current situation, the artist will be present in the gallery from 3:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m.
Exhibition dates: Saturday, 29 January – Saturday, 12 March 2022
Meet the artist: Saturday, 5 February + Saturday, 12 February 2022, both 3:00 p.m. – 6:00 p.m., other dates by arrangement
To the Gallery
Image caption title image: Peer Kriesel, Bereit – Me So Small Installation, Grimace drawing on Porsche model (911) (1:8), figurine (plastic)f), 29 x 54 x 25 cm, 2021
Exhibition Peer Kriesel – Galerie Martin Mertens | Zeitgenössische Kunst in Berlin | Contemporary Art | Exhibitions Berlin Galleries | ART at Berlin
