Berlin
Tokyo Photo Show
Just as the Paris Photo Show opens its doors to international artists next week, Project Art Lounge is pleased to present the works of European photographer Silvia Sinha at one of Tokyo’s most innovative art and design spaces. Following an invitation-only preview earlier this year, “Water Abstracts” by Berlin based Silvia Sinha will be on display from November 19-22, 2015 at Hikarie 8 / Creative Lounge across from the busy Shibuya station.
Like Hiroshi Sugimoto’s Seascapes, Silvia Sinha takes us on a “voyage of seeing” in her series “Water Abstracts”. In photographs which the artist likens to “painting on the water’s surface” Sinha captures the ever changing light and flow (光と流) of the urban landscape.
Silvia Sinha’s recent works were featured in the European Month of Photography in 2014 in Berlin and at international exhibitions in Basel, Switzerland and Tokyo.
ベルリン拠点の写真家、Silvia Sinhaによる「Water Abstracts」シリーズでは、杉本博司の 海景と同じように、我々を「眺めの旅」に誘います。今回、Project Art Loungeが紹介する展示はSinhaの捉えた、常に変わり続ける都市風景の「光と流」というテーマです。 アーティスト自身が写真を「水面上に描くペインティング」のように捉え、都市風景をシンボルとして、陸封メトロポリスの活気を表す作品です。
開催日時
2015年11月19日（木）～11月22日（日）
開催場所
Creative Lounge MOV aiiima 3
開催時間
12:00～20:00
主催者
Project Art Lounge (www.projectartlounge.com)
Girl on canvas.
Pola Dwurnik at buch|bund in Berlin
After unveiling her book last year, Pola Dwurnik has had plenty to say about the world of contemporary art. She continues the conversation on September 19th at buch|bund with one of the book’s contributors, Konstanty F. Szydłowski, philosopher, romanist, art critic, translator, curator. More about Girl on Canvas and what Pola has to say about painting here…
Firewalls – Brandmauern
Visitors to the Project Art Lounge exhibition of Water Abstracts – Photographs by Silvia Sinha also got a sneak preview of her new series entitled “Brandmauern” or Firewalls. Like her water photographs, these are images of change and transformation. By capturing the rough and sometimes colorful exteriors of exposed sustaining walls – occasionally outlining a once neighboring building – Sinha not only demonstrates her painterly eye for detail, she also documents the ebb and flow of the city. As Berlin continues to transform and evolve, these urban vistas will also change and many will even disappear. Their lasting image, however, is thoughtfully preserved with Silvia Sinha’s photographs.
Silvia Sinha’s Brandmauern series was featured in the 6th European Month of Photography exhibition at Carpentier Galerie in Berlin. They will also be the subject of a museum show at Museum St. Wendel from September 13 – November 1, 2015 in Saarland.
A number of her “Firewalls” photographs can be viewed in the Firewalls album on her Facebook artist page.
Exhibition: WATER ABSTRACTS – Photographs by Silvia Sinha
Thank you to everyone who visited the “Water Abstracts” exhibition featuring photographs by Berlin artist Silvia Sinha. For another look at the artworks on exhibit, click here. Please contact Project Art Lounge below if you have any questions about Silvia Sinha, are interested in adding Silvia’s work to your collection or simply want to be added to our newsletter.
“Mystery of mysteries, water and air are right there before us in the sea. Every time I view the sea, I feel a calming sense of security, as if visiting my ancestral home; I embark on a voyage of seeing.”
In the exhibition Water Abstracts, Silvia Sinha takes us on her own “voyage of seeing.” In this second exhibition of Silvia Sinha’s works presented by Project Art Lounge, the artist explores not the seaside, but the concrete jungle of Berlin. While Sugimoto contemplates the co-existence of water and air as the source of life, Silvia’s photographs reflect upon the other elements of light and flow – 光と流 – hikari to nagare. In the middle of a big city, she studies how water gives life to the urban landscape by capturing the fleeting contours of the cityscape as they are reflected on the water’s surface.
In thriving metropoles like Berlin and Tokyo, it can be difficult to find the calm places and moments of reflection that are embodied in Sugimoto’s seascapes. Silvia Sinha’s photographs remind us that the flow of life – both tranquil and dynamic – are in front of us every day. Her work is not the result of a snapshot or a chance encounter. Instead, like the work of other artists, her’s is the result of long periods of observation and introspection. In Silvia’s own words, her artwork “arises out of a very contemplative process that requires a high level of attention and a lot of time. Seeing and composing on the spot is from the perspective of the visual arts an important basis of my work.”
In her series Water Abstracts, Silvia Sinha continues to build her portfolio of abstract photographs, which were also presented by Project Art Lounge in the exhibition LIGHT BREAKS in Basel, Switzerland. Like her series about “Firewalls” in Berlin, Water Abstracts symbolizes the ever changing flow of the urban landscape. Her photographs are presented as a canvas that is neither literal nor without meaning. Silvia Sinha: “What I see is a painting on the water’s surface – one of vivid shapes and colors – which gains in abstraction through my deliberate focus, while it’s subject develops an entirely new vitality.”
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美術展オープニングリセプション：2015年3月25日（水）6:00－9:30 PM
美術展観覧時間：2015年3月25日（水）～2015年4月22日（水）期間中
の毎週水曜日 6:00－9:30PM、それ以外の日時は事前予約にて
Is that art?
Last summer I visited Kapoor in Berlin with my friend and Atlanta based artist Michele Schuff. Conveyor belts and cannons discharging hot red wax projectiles, splattering them on the walls and floors of the Martin-Gropius-Bau in Anish Kapoor’s Symphony for a Beloved Sun. The breathtaking size and scope of Kapoor’s work on display made me ask myself: how in the world can anyone create art on such a scale? As an extremely successful artist with the institutional resources and staff to support him, there really are no limitations to Kapoor’s creativity.
When I asked Michele how she recognizes great art and what appeals to her as an artist, she answered “when it feels authentic.” In a contemporary art world full of successful artists who have turned their ateliers into factories, appropriating the work of other artists and creating amazing art out of everyday objects, it can be hard to differentiate between art and avocation, between the authentic and the deceptive. And what if deception is precisely what the artist intended (see “Exit through the Gift Shop“)…don’t worry, you are not alone in asking: is that art?
Who better to explain the (r)evolution of contemporary art than Japanese artist Morimura Yasumasa, who has been “appropriating” the work of other artists for years and has been appointed artistic director of the 2014 Yokohama Triennale. At Tokyo’s Mori Art Museum annual cocktail party for new members, Morimura gave an honest reflection about the current Andy Warhol exhibition. A teenager at the time of Andy Warhol’s rising popularity, Morimura recalled how obscure Andy Warhol and his pop art was in the mid to late 1960s. In contrast with conventional wisdom that painting is a window to the innermost thoughts and feelings of the artist, Morimura quoted Warhol’s famous saying: “If you want to know all about Andy Warhol, just look at the surface of my paintings and films and me, and there I am. There’s nothing behind it.” In other words, it is what it is – take it or leave it. In fact, Morimura concluded, there is much more behind Warhol’s work than first meets the eye. He sees an homage to the concealed advertising artist (Brillo) and the insightful eye of a discerning art director well attuned to the iconic imagery of his day (Marilyn Monroe). Whether you appreciate Warhol for his aesthetic use of color and form on the surface or for a deeper – and perhaps nostalgic – and concealed context, it is impossible to deny Warhol’s authenticity as an artist. Morimura, whose self-portraits also include projections of himself as Marilyn Monroe, knows as well as anyone what it means to test new waters, while paying tribute to the artistic past.
So the next time you find yourself asking “is that art,” it is worth taking a step back for a moment. In contemporary art – as in life – it often makes sense to reserve judgement and simply “take it all in” before drawing a conclusion, because contrary to conventional wisdom, beauty in art is not only in the eye of the beholder, but foremost in its creator.
Subtle Riot
In their book Teaching As a Subversive Activity
In her book project GIRL ON CANVAS, artist Pola Dwurnik presents her own work in a revolutionary new way. Self described as “Subversive, rascally and girlish,” Pola’s book includes contributions by over 30 art historians, designers, essayists and philosophers. She challenges us to take a fresh look at painting and its reception, “completely uncontrolled by the artist.”
In an art world where trends are frequently culled, curated and controlled by a small elite, Pola Dwurnik invites us – like Postman and Weingartner – to challenge our assumptions and let art (like schools) be what they are – a source of creativity and independence. Pola’s book premiere’s at berlinerpool on January 30, 2014 in Berlin.
Project Art Lounge 