11 Jan 2013

Rupprecht Matthies and Helga Edith Geng at Galerie Thore Krietemeyer, Berlin

RUPPRECHT MATTHIES – ANTI MODERN

The works of Rupprecht Matthies (*1959), who lives and works in Berlin and Hamburg, take place in different parts of society, where he collaborates with single persons or groups and thus creates new spatial or emotional scenes.

His raw materials are language and the written word: after many personal talks or interviews, Rupprecht Matthies gathers single words, cuts them out of acrylic and turns the into perpetuum mobiles, sculptures, paintings, and project specific installations. But Matthies does not use any typography for this, only his and other peopleʼs handwriting. In his sculptures and paintings, language becomes visible and through this he makes us rediscover language and the written word. On top of that, his works are a kind of portrait oft the persons involved.

The collection of words is like a small universal dictionary of basic terms, which intertwine intellectually in their movements and thus give new possibilities for associations. The words, which are turned into form in his works, are the result of communication processes and reflect a concrete social context.

In his projects Matthies tries to motivate people: children, youths, adults are urged to reflect on their wishes and express their needs, through this method he gets them actively involved in his works.

Rupprecht Matthies has studied art at the College of Fine Arts, Hamburg and sociology at Hamburg University. He won the Saxonian Art Award for Tolerance and Democracy. His works were shown recently at the Denver Art Museum, the Museum of Modern Art in Klagenfurt, Carinthia, and at the Hamburger Kunsthalle.

The exhibition is coordinated in close cooperation with Internationalen Bauausstellung IBA Hamburg


HELGA EDITH GENG – DRAWINGS

„Drawing is the art of taking lines for a walk'. This phrase by Paul Klee seems to be the inspiration for the drawings of Helga Edith Geng (*1971, lives and works in Berlin). Her drawing hands seem to follow where her thoughts have led her. The viewer tries to keep pace with the generous white of the paper room, keeping the rhythm of the colour, the drive of the line. The artist has worked intensively on her drawings for more than five years now. With coloured pencils and watercolours, she draws room structures of coloured lines in repeating rhythms, mainly on paper and cardboard, but also on wood.

Gengʼs works are like dreams, interwoven lanes and forms that grow together and become a kind of jungle. Like a living organism. the circle hovers over the paper in 'zeit spielt keine rolle' (time is of no importance) and its status is not clear. Is the circle about to get denser or to dissolve or does it both happen at the same time? This idea of a limbo, this ambiguity can be found in all her drawings.

In her latest works she parts from the spatial effect of the lines in two dimensions and transforms them into space. By using natural materials like coloured bast, wicker, or flax, she carries away the lines and takes them for a walk in the room… along walls, ceilings, and gaps.

Helga Edith Geng studied Visual Communications at the University of Fine Arts in Berlin and she received a scholarship from the Käthe Dorsch and Agnes Straub Foundation therefore Artist in Residence from the Foundation Artists Schöppingen. Her works have been presented in numerous exhibitions, including at the Unicredit Bank/ HypoVereinsbank München, KunstHaus Potsdam, The Forgotten Bar Project Berlin, the Kunstraum Bethanien Berlin and the Kunstverein Berlin-Tiergarten.

At present a large-scale spatial drawing (total length 30 meters) can be seen in the windows of the Lodenfrey department store in Munich.