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until 04.06. | #3429ARTatBerlin | BBA Gallery shows from 28. April 2022 (Opening on 29.04.) the exhibition Hereafter by the artist Rhys Himsworth.
A challenger of space and time, Welsh-born artist Rhys Himsworth captures our fast-paced world and ever-changing environments, transforming them into romantic artworks where time stands still. He will present his innovative, artistic approach in his upcoming solo exhibition Hereafter at the BBA Gallery in Berlin.
Rhys Himsworth, Anaphalis javanica Aurum Argentumque, 2021,
Digital UV ink, acrylic and crushed computer housing, on aluminium, 80 cm x 100 cm,
© Rhys Himsworth / BBA Gallery
In the form of a peaceful protest against mass production, techno-capitalism and the detours of global trade, Himsworth has developed a circular artistic approach to give technical waste an afterlife. In this way, he undermines our linear perception of time and resists the pace of mass consumption by reducing the sprint of our fast-moving social system into stasis.
Rhys Himsworth, Topographies of Decline #01, 2020,
Digital UV ink, acrylic and crushed LCD screens on aluminium,155 cm x 122 cm,
© Rhys Himsworth / BBA Gallery
Himsworth has been collecting, chopping and recycling redundant electronic equipment for over a decade – long before the subject became mainstream. He traces the recycled electronics used in his artworks back to the geographical regions that are the source of the raw materials on the basis of which the same electronic devices were produced. He then brings his artworks to life with his self-developed UV inkjet printer. His visual language thus moves somewhere between painting, print and digital, between obsolescence and uniqueness. “Hereafter” is the artist’s first solo show at BBA Gallery and features multimedia hybrid landscapes of impressive scale, materialist ingenuity and didactic significance.
Rhys Himsworth, Phalaennopis Amabilis Alumen, 2021,
Digital UV ink, acrylic and crushed DVD-R’s on aluminium, 80cm x 100 cm
© Rhys Himsworth / BBA Gallery
Himsworth mimics the exhaustive outsourcing process of industrial technological device production by embarking on a ritualistic pilgrimage to those countries from which the raw materials for the production of our technical devices originate. With the collected “scrap”, he crosses the ocean back to Europe, crushes and pulverises the individual parts in a shredder and uses the remaining shimmering facets for his romantic, dream-like canvases. Sometimes colourful, sometimes mystically gloomy, he prints the canvases with motifs that are so familiar to us that we recognise them immediately without ever having seen them before. To complete the cycle of the works’ return to their homeland, he deliberately selects motifs that represent idealised views of these particular geographical areas: playful blossoms, graceful mountains and soothingly flowing riverbeds. He deliberately chooses stock images rather than self-produced photographs, when outsourcing has become the norm for most of the actors in our economic system.
Rhys Himsworth, Topographies of Decline #04, 2020,
Digital UV ink, acrylic and crushed LCD screens on aluminium,155 cm x 122 cm,
© Rhys Himsworth / BBA Gallery
For his latest series, produced exclusively for his exhibition at the BBA Gallery, Himsworth uses crushed LCD screens and prints landscapes that lie on the edges of the world’s mineral mines. Romantic vistas on top stand in stark contrast to the jagged ground below, literally made of the material that was once mined there. The series serves as a form of modest environmental activism, preserving the utopian topography of the landscape while the threat of anthropogenic extinction lurks underground.
Rhys Himsworth, Topographies of Decline #07, 2021,
Digital UV ink, acrylic and crushed LCD screens on aluminium,122 cm x 155cm,
© Rhys Himsworth / BBA Gallery
Himsworth, who had his last solo exhibition at Künstlerhaus Bethanien in Berlin, currently lives in the city and is originally from Wales, UK. He has already exhibited throughout Europe, North America and Asia. Parallel to his solo show at the BBA Gallery, the artist will exhibit together with BBA director and artist Renata Kudlacek at the Contemporary Show Room (CSR) Berlin. The two exhibitions are by no means mutually exclusive in terms of content and curatorial approach, but reflect the high demand and topicality of Himsworth’s work. The corresponding dates for his CSR exhibition can be found on the official CSR website. The corresponding dates for his CSR exhibition can be found on the official CSR website: csr.art.
Opening: Frisay, 29. April 2022, 6:00 – 9:00 pm
Exhibition dates: Thursday, 28. April to Saturday, 4. June 2022
Artist Talk: Thursday, 12. May 2022, 7:00 to 9:00 pm
To the Gallery
Image caption title: Rhys Himsworth, Topographies of Decline #08, 2021, Digital UV ink, acrylic and crushed CD-R’s on canvas, 122 cm x 155cm © Rhys Himsworth / BBA Gallery
Exhibition Rhys Himsworth – BBA Gallery | Zeitgenössische Kunst in Berlin | Contemporary Art | Exhibitions Berlin Galleries | ART at Berlin
