CARSTEN FOCK

BLACK

8 June - 21 July 2007

We are pleased to announce Carsten Fock's exhibition "BLACK".

Compared to and against the backdrop of his previous shows at Jan Winkelmann / Berlin, the third exhibition of Carsten Fock could not be more radical. His current show consists of five monochrome, black felt-tipped pen drawings of equal size and format (172 cm x 137.5 cm / 68 x 54 inches).

Produced over the past years, the sporadically created large format monochromatic felt-tipped pen drawings stand alone as unusual and rather isolated objects within the oeuvre of the otherwise conceptually objective work of the artist. These pieces are a creation of the "in-between", a byproduct of what the artist calls a cathartic, meditative process of "voidance of images and figurative objectivity".

However, two aspects of Carsten Fock's work coalesce here in an as equally atypical as succinct mode: Painting and drawing conflate into a singular entity. The unification of the subjective gesture typical in the painterly work of the artist and the more controlled super-structuring of the pictorial layers of his drawings - a form of "architecture of topics" - become most trenchantly apparent in these panels.

The monochromatic surfaces consist of "modules" of bundled perpendicular lines which, in part, superimpose upon themselves and vary ever so slightly in size. The allure as well as the basis of the dissimilarities of the pieces lies in the contrast between the inherently mechanical appearance of the work and the control of the gesture. Although initially perceivable as monochromatic surfaces, in detail the works disclose - as in the rhythm of the lines - plenarily contradistinctive effects. Consequently, some pieces are somewhat more uniformly wrought and exude a rather gentle, almost delicate aura. Other pieces, on the other hand, are comprised of vigorous modules of extensive superimpositions and thus demonstrate stronger contrasts.

Ad Reinhardt's eschatological dogma "Painting is black" is exaggerated in a most acerbically effective approach. Whereas Reinhardt used the absence of light and the physical presence of the non-color black to lead to a visual neutral point, Fock's monochromatic drawings, in the variety of the detail, appear to be an attempt to surmount monochromatic painting.

Carsten Fock (born 1968) lives in Berlin. Works of the artist will be included in the following exhibitions: "Overtake: The Reinterpretation of Modern Art", Lewis Glucksman Gallery, University College, Cork (4 July - 7 October 2007) und "Friends forever", Bonner Kunstverein (as of 24 October 2007).

Opening hours: Tue-Sat, 11 am - 6 pm


Summer Break: The gallery will be closed from 23 July until 25 August 2007.


-> download press release in ENGLISH
-> download press release in GERMAN