16366 001

Berlin - Los Angeles. A Tale of Two (Other) Cities

Kaari Upson

Elad Lassry

Aaron Curry

Frank Benson

Scott Olson

Simon Fujiwara

Maximilian Zentz Zlomovitz

Kirstine Roepstorff

Dan Rees

Nora Schultz

Klaus Weber

Josef Strau

Klara Liden

Dates
12.11.2009 | 17.12.2009
Location
Massimo De Carlo, Milano
A group show created as a trip: through the works of thirteen young artists (five from Los Angeles and eight from Berlin) we will be have an outlook of the new tastes and tendencies of the contemporary art world. At the entrance, the Berlin-born artist Klaus Weber presents Large Dark Wind Chime (Arab Tritone) (2009), a large tempered aluminum sculpture that, when shaken by the wind, produces a “tritone” (called “Diabolus in musica” during the Medioevo), a musical interval consisting of three whole tones comparable to the augmented fourth or diminished fifth. From Berlin, Maximilian Zentz Zlomovitz exhibits Electric Blue (2009) an installation that recalls the underground movements of the 80’s. From Los Angeles, Frank Benson proposes Chocolate Fountain #1 (2008), a sculpture in aluminum and varnish, almost an attempt to frozen a flux that in reality is in constant movement. In The Postman’s Decision is Final (2009), Berlin artist Dan Rees sends a series of postcards to two different addresses, letting the postman decide who will get them. Kaari Upson, from Los Angeles, creates his works from a shinny surface darkened by smoke, and some times he intervenes on it (Untitled, 2009). At the centre of the room, a platform done by Lorenzo Bini of Studiometrico, divides the space in two. At its interior, catalogues, magazines, publications, postcards and touristic guides offer a deeper vision of some of the aspects and themes related to the two cities. Beyond the wooden structure, Klara Liden, from Berlin, presents Kasta Macka (2009), a 3’ video that shows the artist in front of a river until the sun rises. Berlin-artist Nora Schultz ‘s way of assembling and suspending found objects and materials can be clearly observed in the sculpture Model for a stage (2009). Aaron Curry, from Los Angeles, exhibits a serigraphy of some surreal, stylized and almost tribal shapes (Untitled, 2009). Kirstine Roepstorff’s large collage Forms of the Below (2009) dominates the room. The Berlin-artist uses fabrics, paper, painting and wood to create an almost tridimensional dream-like landscape. On the second room, Maximilian Zentz Zlomovitz presents yet another sculpture (Out of Order, 2009) that creates a modern barrier that splits the atmosphere in two. Simon Fujiwara shows Franco’s Bottom Drawer (2009) a drawer with some magazines, objects, photos and a letter that reveal the perverse sexuality, imaginary but possible, of the Spanish dictator Francisco Franco. The small paitings on canvas and wood by Scoot Olson (all Untitled, 2009) counterpoint Elad Lassry’s photographs (1999, 2009; Blue Bar, 2009; Boys, 2009; Papayas, 2009; Angela Ledgerwood, 2009) and Untitled (2009) by the German artist Josef Strau: canvases in which he frees texts and characters from the rigid rules to which they usually are submitted to. In the opening night, Simon Fujiwara, together with Tim Davies, will present the performance Feminine Endings, Berlin. As if the artists wanted to extend the duration of the performance, the set, together with the video and audio of the event, will remain until the end of the show.