Weaving together everything from Doctor Whoto classic botanical painting, Matsuyama's technicolor universes explore what it means to be a global citizen Dreamy, detailed and ultra-modern, the paintings of Tomokazu Matsuyama (born 1976) unite disparate cultural symbols into a new, universal reality, echoing the dynamism of contemporary life. He incorporates elements of popular culture and traditional art historical techniques to challenge individual identity in an age of ubiquitous images.
ART ALTSTETTEN ALBISRIEDEN accompanies an exhibition in Zurich during summer 2015, featuring over 30 artists showcasing works in public spaces. This project reflects on the urban transformation of Altstetten and Albisrieden, two neighborhoods that began as small villages in the early 20th century and evolved into popular cooperative housing areas. As Zurich expands rapidly, these neighborhoods, once favored by artists like Fischli/Weiss and Pipilotti Rist, are losing their original charm. The exhibition includes interventions from artists such as Nevin Aladag, Cristian Andersen, Ian Anüll, and many others, exploring the dynamics of dense cities in the 21st century through the lens of art interventions and public discussions. The publication features contributions from a diverse group of writers, including Nico Anklam, Ursula Badrutt, and Vanessa Bersis, among others, providing insights into the evolving relationship between art and urban spaces. This project is published in collaboration with Stadt Zürich, emphasizing the significance of artistic engagement in the context of urban development and community identity.
In the context of the wide-ranging group exhibition HOT SPOT ISTANBUL, Museum Haus Konstruktiv is dedicating a focused solo presentation, as well as a publication to Ekrem Yalçindag. For Ekrem Yalçindag as a conceptual artist, he does not consider it absolutely necessary that the "magic hand" of the artist is involved. For him, it is much more important that a work is accurately thoughtout, and that the technique is accurately implemented - only the two of these together produce the desired result. In the last two decades, he has devised a painting technique which, for the most part, is based on a linear framework and precise engraved fields within it. Sometimes his paintings are geometrically arranged, at other times they show amorphous structures, but at all times, the technique is enormously time-consuming and calls for a calm, proficient hand. 0Exhibition: Museum Haus Konstruktiv, Zürich, Switzerland (6.6.-22.9.2013)
Fummeln für Fortgeschrittene zeigt Arbeiten des aus Estland stammenden, jungen Dresdner Malers Paul Pretzer. Bereits der Titel des Katalogs führt uns unmittelb ar in den klugen, skurrilen und tragikomischen Kosmos des Künstlers. Gefummelt wird in vielen seiner Gemälde - aber in ikonographisch vertraut scheinenden Posen und in altmeisterlich anmutender Malweise. In seinen oft kleinformatigen Ölgemälden erschafft Paul Pretzer eine Vielzahl von eigenartigen Hybridwesen und Chimären. Die dargestellten Szenen wecken nicht selten prägende Erinnerungen an die Geschichten vom Suppenkasper oder der frommen Helene. Paul Pretzer besitzt ein einzigartiges Talent zur Komposition, Formgebung und Lichtinszenierung und reiht sich selbstbewusst ein in die Tradition der Tafelbildmalerei. Er bedient sich bei den Besten, zitiert sie gekonnt und hinterfragt durch den Einsatz des Tragikomischen, des Grotesken und des Slapstick auf sehr zeitgenössische Art und Weise die Konventionen der Ernsthaftigkeit in der Auseinandersetzung mit Kunst.
Picture it. Claudia and Naomi, Gisele and Kate, supermodels extraordinaire. Their ultra-chic, ultra-thin bodies scrawled over with the "Never Enough of You" and similarly glossy women made to bear growths on their bodies that resemble the trademarks they're employed to Levis, Gucci and the like. Such are the lifestyle and media code reformulations that Daniele Buetti has enacted in recent years, bringing the phantasmic effects of mass communication precisely to a point. Such media-driven subjects have seen Buetti dubbed the "new king of pop"--which designation, while royal, short-sights much of the extensive oeuvre he has produced over the last 10 years, a body of work that explores the topic of our consumption-happy society in a much larger context. From Buetti's performance-like beginnings, this monograph moves on to an overview of his most important installations, photographic panels, illuminated boxes and videos, and traces the origins of the "winged cross," Buetti's trademark from the late 80s.