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12

Michael Raedecker
record

Berlin: Bleibtreustraße 45, September 13 – October 25, 2014
Opening: September 13, 6-8 pm

We are delighted to present the exhibition record with new paintings by Michael Raedecker in our space at Bleibtreustraße 45.

Michael Raedecker combines painting with different techniques of sewing and stitching. The combination of classic embroidery and minimal paint application pushes not only the boundaries of the medium painting but also explores the possibilities and the meaning of traditional craft in the art context. Raedecker creates works that address and expand the questions and expectations contemporary painting raises today and play with the meanings and clichés they provoke. The thread emphasizes contours, practically and quietly taking the topics in the works to their extreme. Its three-dimensionality and physicality enable certain friction and tension that characterize Raedecker's works.

Raedecker's motifs depict ordinary objects, still-lifes of dishes and plants, embroidered draperies but also modern architecture, such as the suburban home and the iconic skyline, all of it so familiar it carries an instant charge. Yet, these sceneries appear somewhat open, leave blanks and blind spots. In combination with muted grey and blue nuances his works thus evoke a mysterious almost uncanny mood. The question of the unknown, the invisible, constantly follows the perception. At the same time, his paintings offer a very private, intimate atmosphere. Showing banal, everyday surroundings, they emphasize how fast the familiar can become unfamiliar and surreal.

The paintings presented in this exhibition, mostly from 2014, pick up both new motifs and those of previous works, creating new contexts among each other. For the first time, Raedecker works on different textiles and fabrics and thus expands his practices by introducing a ‘ready-made’ surface. Fabrics, printed with floral or plaid patterns, partly replace the canvas and refer to embroidery as the essential technique of his works. By indicating possible patterns and elements of an unseen interior, such as wallpapers, curtains or blankets, the textiles both complement and disturb the embroidered motifs of suburban houses and skylines.
Raedecker further explores this practice by cutting the canvases into strips, rearranging and finally stitching them back together. The hereby fragmented works intensify the impression of an alienated setting and allow new, compelling compositions.

For Raedecker, paintings capture a certain mood, thus saving a particular moment, however banal. The title of the exhibition, record, refers to this process. The painting as a recording device, an evidence from our time. Similar to music, paintings always range from cheerful to melancholic, instantly transforming the atmosphere, setting the emotional tone.


»Observability and perverse surveillance hang in the air. Or, are we approaching a crime scene? Would our voyeuristic curiosity turn abruptly into fear and flight reflex were we to get close enough to see what's going on in the house? Ridiculous thoughts. It's just a painting of a house, nothing else. No reason for wild speculation.«

Jörg Heiser, Amorous Distance in Michael Raedecker. tour, Sprengel Museum Hannover and Wilhelm-Hack-Museum Ludwigshafen, 2014

Questioning this atmosphere, how it can be hijacked, influenced and manipulated, Raedecker unleashes not only distinct feelings within the viewer but creates an oeuvre full of diverse readings and intangibility.

Simultaneously the gallery will inaugurate an exhibition with new works by Marepe at Goethestraße 2/3.

Michael Raedecker, born 1963 in Amsterdam, lives and works in London. He studied at Rietveld Akademie and Rijksakademie in Amsterdam as well as Goldsmith College in London. His works were presented in numerous solo exhibitions in international institutions, such as Sprengel Museum, Hannover (2014); Wilhelm-Hack-Museum, Ludwigshafen (2013); Carré d’Art, Nîmes; GEM, Museum of Contemporary Art, Den Haag (2010); Camden Arts Centre, London (2009); Salzburger Kunstverein; Knoxville Museum of Art, Tennessee (2004); Museum für Gegenwartskunst, Basel (2003). Furthermore, he formed part of group exhibitions at Institut Néerlandais, Paris (2012); Kunsthal Rotterdam (2007); Museum Van Loon, Amsterdam (2006); Van Abbe Museum, Eindhoven (2004) among others.


Marepe
Noticías da Lagoa [News from the Lagoon]
Berlin: Goethestraße 2/3, September 13 – October 25, 2014

Opening: September 13, 6-8 pmWe are delighted to present the exhibition Noticías da Lagoa [News from the Lagoon] with new works by Marepe in our space at Goethestraße 2/3.

Marepe’s work addresses social and cultural changes. His home country Brazil and especially the region of Bahia where the artist lives thereby often serve as an inspiration. Marepe explores the contradictions and dichotomies of cultural practice and refers to the traditions and habits but also to colonial historical and political structures and mechanisms. His personal experiences and interpretations are based on this approach and, as soon as they are exhibited, new connections evolve, different contexts are created and translated into global statements.

Marepe's sculptures and objects are based on everyday materials and items, such as rubber bands, cotton candy, backpacks, shoes, bicycles or flat irons. Revised, deformed and alienated they offer an unfamiliar sight at our surroundings and enable various readings. Often, a critical nuance can be found, displaying unjust moments of society, but always accompanied by a humorous tone. Marcel Duchamp and his artistic practice are playing an important part in Marepe's inspiration which can be seen by the use of readymades and a re-contextualisation of everyday objects. Nevertheless, it is the deep concern for social and human interactions that drives his art.

In his third solo exhibition with Galerie Max Hetzler Marepe presents a group of recent works on paper, sculptures as well as installations.
The work Mochilas Gêmeas [Twin Backpacks], 2007 consisting of two backpacks that show the painted image of a lying man, emphasize Marepe’s concern for social interrelations. Carried only in unison the image becomes a complete whole and the upper and lower body of the displayed man can be perceived together. Thus, the work requires a certain form of performative interaction between both backpackers who only by collaborating accomplish the work.

In Untitled, from the series Construção de Esquema [Scheme Construction], 2012 Marepe is pushing the idea of the readymade to its extreme. He uses ordinary graphite sticks to create drawings. Thereby, the stick itself is not used to draw a line onto paper but becomes an object after being arranged as a line on paper. The work Renovação do Ar [Air Renewal], 2014, inspired by Duchamp’s Aire de Paris, 1919, also addresses the involvement with mundane objects. Simple ceiling fans and tires become futuristic items whose actual function become obsolete.

The exhibition takes its title from the work Noticías da Lagoa [News from the Lagoon], 2014, an reflection on the numerous news that emerged recently due to events like the World Cup or the economic situation of Brazil, moving the country into focus of the international press and provoking a multitude of critical discussions. Furthermore, the work reminds the artist of the well-known seascape by Monet Impression, soleil levant of 1872, which gave rise to the name of the impressionist movement.

Simultaneously, the gallery will inaugurate an exhibition with new paintings by Michael Raedecker at Bleibtreustraße 45.

Marepe was born in 1970 as Marcos Reis Peixoto in Santo Antônio de Jesus, Bahia in Brazil. His works have been exhibited in important institutions, such as the Museu de Arte de São Paulo, São Paulo (2014); Museu de Arte do Rio, Rio de Janeiro (2013); Walker Art Center, Minneapolis (2012); IVAM, Valencia (2011); Museum of Contemporary Art, Tokyo (2008); Museu de Arte Moderna, São Paulo (2007); Museu de Arte Moderna, Rio de Janeiro (2007); Tate Modern, London (2007) and the Centre Pompidou, Paris (2005). Marepe took part in the biennials of São Paulo (2012; 2006), Sidney (2006), Istanbul (2003) and Venice (2003).