What the light did now

2 July - 11 September, 2020

COVID19 DIARIES

at Lovaas Projects, Group Exhibition, Munich, Germany

Lovaas Projects initiated an “art virus” which has culminated in the COVID19 DIARIES ex- hibition.The first artist to be “infected,” Verena Issel, sent a work created in response to the Covid-19 pandemic and in turn “infected” another artist and so on and so on....Today over 100 artists from all over the world have “contaminated” us with their essential gift of artistic creation. Though the pandemic rages on in many parts of the world, the COVID19 DIARIES exhibi- tion bears witness to the social, economic and psychological disruption we have all experienced. The themes elaborated in the exhibition range from solitude, loneness, disaster, the mundane, disconnectedness, and escapism.

Feb 14-16, 2020

ZWANG

at Springbreak Art Show LA, Los Angeles, USA

curated by Kylie Manning and Tristan Mcallister

with with Lucas Ajemian, Katie Armstrong, Gaby Collins- Fernandez, Kimia Ferdowsi Kline, Chad Freilino, Dan Hougland, Layli Samimi, Jackie Manning, Kylie Manning, Jana Nowack, Andre Razo, Tino Razo, Michael Samuels, Christofer Taylor, Pyeng Threadgill

“Zwang” is a German word that does not translate easily into English. Its meanings are multifold. In the context of studio practices the philosophical aspects of Zwang—the necessitation to act in a certain precircumscribed way—are of great interest. The word oscillates between “innerer” and “äusserer Zwang,” a controlling influence coming from the outside vs. a powerful inner need to act in a specific, predetermined way.

This multivalent concept of Zwang was the guiding principle for the selection of works brought together in this show. All of them combine components of restriction and strength while adding an abstract element of play. Yet while we usually think of restriction and strength as opposing forces, the artists here have each developed specific processes in which force and constraint intertwine. The resulting artistic languages guide them on an often unpredictable path to new forms of constructed fiction. The artist’s studio becomes a place that might be best described with the German phrase “wo sich Fuchs und Hase ‘gute Nacht’ sagen” (where fox and hare say ‘goodnight’ to one another)—i.e. the middle of nowhere.

Through process-oriented practices the selected artists all incorporate the best aspects of Zwang to create novel works that transcend trend. Feeling both informed and fresh, they deploy a wide variety of predetermined practices. Each artist thereby utilizes Zwang to unveil and share secret moments that otherwise might have been missed.