11 Sep 2012

Guy Oberson 'Endless Walls, Infinite Sky' at Galerie d'(A)

For the opening of its fifth season, Galerie d'(A) is pleased to present new works by Fribourg- and Berlin-based Swiss artist Guy Oberson in an exhibition entitled 'Endless Walls, Infinite Sky'.

'I want my paintings to be a visible representation of energy, pulsating with life, arousing the senses, expressing a state of violence and love.'

Guy Oberson expresses himself with passion in his painting, for and against everything. Storms rage within this artist, waves break. There is a real sense of urgency in these landscapes devoid of human figures. Life pulsates palpably in the silence. The large oil triptych titled Scories d'ouest et terre d'Hebron (Remnants of the West and the Land of Hebron) may radiate peace and calm, yet the red slash of paint that rents the canvases hints at undercurrents of violence. The painting is essentially a voyage into the depths of feeling.

This exploration of the abyss materialises in a series of remarkably incisive portraits, whose expressions are captured in a few gestures. Guy Oberson's work is anchored in the dichotomy between ecstasy and pain. Bodies have either abandoned themselves to pleasure or are curled up in pain. His uniform treatment of the images, be it in oil, red chalk or black stone, blurs the border between these two feelings.

Guy Oberson's technique is to work on plain or mounted paper, which he covers with black stone and then scours with his own hands to extract the light. This scouring, these vertical lines serve to veil what is palpable, like a frame that reveals only fragments of reality. The final impression left by these rhythmic compositions is one of pulsating life, the leitmotif of his work

The artist's work could be best described with a stunning quote by novelist and essayist Nancy Houston on Guy Oberson : 'Whether he starts out with a landscape, a nude , a tree or a building, his images express what I've always sought to express in words – sensuality, dissonance, angst, beauty, pain, childhood, the call for help… Faced with the frightening entropy of the human universe, the chaotic tumble of events and the endless proliferation of chatter, Oberson manages to glean a little meaning. A great – a VERY great – artist.'

ABOUT THE ARTIST

Born in 1960, Guy Oberson is based both in the Canton of Fribourg, Switzerland, and Berlin, Germany, following an artist residency awarded by the State of Fribourg in 2011. He exhibits as a solo artist and in collective exhibitions and fairs in Europe, such as the Salon du Dessin Contemporain (Contemporary Drawing Art Fair) in Paris and the Biennial of Contemporary Art in Aixe-sur-Vienne (France), in French-speaking and German-speaking Switzerland, France and Germany, as well as in Asia, in Manila (Philippines) and at the Shanghai Contemporary 2011 Art Fair in China. Oberson's art also expresses itself in theatre and in literature: he has painted live on stage during a number of performances and published several works, including the book 'Poser nue' (Posing Nude) together with Nancy Huston in 2011. His work has been the subject of many reviews, including those in the art magazines Azart and Artension. His stay in Berlin, a period of intense and sustained creative activity accompanied by doubt and inner turmoil but also exchanges with other artists, had a profound influence on him. On 11 November 2011 Valérie Favre (Swiss artist based in Berlin, Germany) and Galerie C (Neuchâtel, Switzerland) presented the works completed during his stay at the Uferhallen in Berlin.