STORY

http://www.alexiagoethegallery.com

AN INTERNATIONAL GROUP SHOW
INCLUDING NEW WORK FROM THE SPINNEREI ARCHIV, LEIPZIG

From images on prehistoric cave walls to the complex mythological stories on Etruscan vessels, artists have told visual stories that speak to us across cultures and millennia. STORY at the Alexia Goethe Gallery celebrates narrative in contemporary sculpture, film, photography, figurative painting and in the drama of abstraction. Whether using or abusing our instinct towards narrative, every work in this show
inspires a multitude of stories involving the personalities and memories of both viewers and artists. In STORY we find objects that inspire us into action, video stills of computer manipulated movies, a play on film storyboarding and pictures that evoke the old traditions of devotional imagery. Together they present a cross section of the many facets of current narrative art: as a mode of conveying politically and socially charged messages and reflections on contemporary culture as well as ancient archetypes. STORY encompasses the dark, humorous, glamorous and fantastical ways that artists tell tales today.

THE ARTISTS

Julian Bolt (b.1963) Living in London, Bolt works predominantly in large scale photography. With a background in film and advertising, he has an eye for the extraordinary within the ordinary and the poetry and paradox of the everyday.

Brass Art (formed 1998) Based in Manchester and Glasgow, the latest work from this collective of three artists involves their own bodies, shadow sculpture and dreams.
Lela Budde (b.1963) Born in Munich and working in London, Lela Budde uses combinations of film, stills and paintings to dramatic and humorous effect.

Sacha Jafri (b.1977) Growing up in London, Jafri’s first instincts were to tell stories using visual narrative triggers. Known as a ‘magical realist’ painter, his piece, ‘Chess: A Notion of Time’, is unusual in that it uses text and video in a moving evocation of childhood memories.

Meng Jin (b.1973) This Beijing photographer uses domestic interiors of his homeland to show a country that is at once rapidly changing and concurrently immersed in its own past. Panayiotis Kalorkoti (b.1957) Based in Newcastle, Kalorkoti is a painter, but here uses multi-plate etching to make a mysterious image that barely captures the action of a second.

Abandoned hotel room with the view of a revolutionary statue

Bedroom with the view of people's parliament house

Double room with the view of Mao statue

Ruined living room with the view of and anonymous statue

Title: Ruined living room with the view of and anonymous statue
Work Date: 2000
Materials: Lambda print
Size: 41 x 61 cm

Edgar L. (b. 1977) Using the microscopic detail that digital photography affords, this Spinnerei artist is interested in the life within lifelessness and the history that all objects carry with them – in this case, a found photo of a family.

Peter Layton (b.1937) Of Czech origin, Layton is a self-taught master glassmaker who uses the utmost delicacy to ‘draw’ in glass, his objects always politicised and personal.

Sandro Porcu (b.1966) This Spinnerei sculptor sets up filmic scenarios which present the viewer with an invitation. You may choose to avert your eyes, or you may decide to become a protagonist in the work.

Hervé Saint-Hélier (b.1969) On his perennial journey from city to city, this photographer grabs stolen moments from strangers’ lives. Catching fragments of movement and flux, his pictures suggest transition and restlessness.

Guillaume Serve (b.1972) A Parisian living in Brighton, Serve’s screenprinted series use fairytale or mythical characters to explore archetypal heroes and villains.

Konstanze Siegemund (b.1965) These paintings manage to depict the space that exists between memories. Using partial wash-out, she creates a sense of deja-vu, triggering barely remembered narratives that might be dreams or memories. From Spinnerei.

Johannes Tiepelmann (b.1979) Betraying his origins in graffiti art, these massive paintings resemble subversive church windows of a future society. From Spinnerei.

Yves Ullens (b.1960) Though his photos are abstracted, Belgian artist Yves Ullens’ work suggests endless possibilities of narrative through his use of exposure, time and movement.

Alexia Goethe:
I am delighted to announce the work of five artists in STORY as the first of many collaborations with the Leipzig gallery and studio complex, Spinnerei. While there is no dominant style among the 80 practitioners there, one is immediately struck by their strong sense of history and anticipation. STORY is the ideal show for their debut at the Alexia Goethe Gallery.