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until 07.06. | #4660ARTatBerlin | Kristin Hjellegjerde Gallery Berlin shows from the 03rd. May 2025 (Opening: 02.05.) the Solo-exhibition “Blue Blossom Lions” by the artist Ralf Kokke.
In his latest solo exhibition at the Kristin Hjellegjerde Gallery in Berlin, Ralf Kokke leads to a world of twilight bathed in blue. It is a world of community and pleasure, where people come together to rest, make music and bathe in harmony with nature. The title of the exhibition, “Blue Blossom Lions”, alludes to the recurring presence of lions in Kokke’s dreams, guardians of his inner world and symbols of power and strength. In these paintings, predators of various kinds become companions, guiding both the artist and the viewer through the composition while retaining their mysterious and wild nature.
As a child, Kokke struggled with the vividness of his imagination, which evoked both magical dreams and intense nightmares. Painting became not only a means of control but also of expansion, centred on the concept of paradise, which for Kokke is associated with a sense of safety and security as well as unity with nature. While his earlier works focussed more on figures or animals populating his dream world, in this series they are secondary to the nature that surrounds them. We are drawn into lush forest landscapes where figures and animals can be seen among trees or lingering in a secluded clearing. The colours and features of the landscapes are inspired by those of Northern Europe, but also reference the motifs of fairy tales to create a sense of magic and unease.
On the surface, these are scenes of tranquillity, but there is a subliminal sense of tension. One example of this is the painting of two figures sitting on the banks of a river playing the guitar. Around them, the world seems to pause expectantly: A tiger rests further downstream, its mouth slightly open; birds sit motionless in the trees; the sun burns a deep red colour. Elsewhere, a snake coils around the trunk and branches of a tree, ready to strike, while in another work a swan becomes an eerie presence, emerging from behind a tree in the foreground, as figures bathe in the bend of a glassy river in the distance.
Kokke is interested in the suggestiveness of colour and line, in the way they shape the gaze and play with collective memory to create moments of familiarity and intrigue, tension and calm. This is not an act of deception, but an invitation. The rough texture of the chalk paint gives the works a raw, almost primal quality, while the depictions of water and the impression of the softness of tree leaves and grass evoke a strong sensuality, a universal language deeply rooted in the body.
Opening: Friday, 02. May 2025, 6-9 pm.
Exhibition dates: Saturday, 03. May – Saturday, 07. June 2025
Title image caption: Ralf Kokke, Under the Tree, 2025 | Chalk colour on canvas, 100 x 120 cm
Exhibition Ralf Kokke – Kristin Hjellegjerde Berlin | Zeitgenössische Kunst in Berlin | Contemporary Art | Ausstellungen Berlin Galerien | ART at Berlin
