05 Apr 2013

Berlin Art Projects presents Jörg Lohse

We are pleased to announce the opening of our next exhibition. On Saturday, April 13 from 4-7 pm, we will be opening Jörg Lohse's solo show, 'I'd love to be Albert Oehlen's friend' with new work by the Leipzig painter. You are cordially invited to the opening at our space on Mehringdamm 33. The artist will be in attendance.

Wilder, more impetuous and more immediate than ever, Jörg Lohse returns to the art world after an almost three-year hiatus from the Berlin art scene. In the rural seclusion of Upper Bavaria, far from the scene and discourse, the artist developed a series of new, monumental works. The titles are provocative and loud as fanfare: 'Tomorrow is over yesterday', 'It's a shame that concrete doesn't burn' and 'My beginning is your end' begging the question: To whom is this declaration of war directed? The battle is being waged against lightness, the easily-digested, content itself – it is heavy fare, not easy to swallow. Jörg Lohse plunges into the adventure of painting like a man obsessed, for the sake of painting. He creates himself, and he creates obstacles. For him, it is about painting and only the painting – the painting that can exist and hopefully endure in the eyes of the artist and viewer. Lohse paints his soul from his body and hopes for a piece of immortality.

His painting is rapid and extremely aggressive. Everything is massive, loud and supremely colorful: subjects dissolve into abstract surfaces; corrosive yellow and scrawled signatures disrupt and create and almost unbearable disharmony. The title and the depicted often clash and run counter to one another. They negate any mutual relationship in terms of content, and refuse to give even the illusion of a reality. What remains are colors, shapes and surfaces; any content comes directly from the viewer's own power of association.

All of this is exactly as Lohse intended it. Lohse searches for and uses the element of surprise, rebels against traditional painting rules and ordinary viewing habits. He does this without pause, never asking himself the question: 'Can I really leave it like that?' Lohse aims to irritate, confuse, overcome obstacles and limitations and create something new. He consciously claims this freedom, keeping a distance from the art world in order to create a space far away from the art market, the scene, discussions and critique - space for his own, independent artistic position. For all their provocation and irony, Lohse's oil paintings reveal a deep and passionate commitment to painting. The omnipresent artist's signature ('Herr Lohse', 'Schorsch') alludes to the idea of the artist's role and its meaning for the value of the artwork. It dominates some of the works like a trademark. At the same time, it also shows how seriously the artist takes it and to what degree he sees himself as a painter among painters.