) |
Meta Isæus-Berlin |
The Baukunst Galerie opens on Wednesday, the 31st of January 2007 from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. a large solo-exhibition with paintings of the Swedish artist Meta Isæus-Berlin. “The Rehearsal“ is the first exhibition of her œuvre in Germany at all, which exclusively presents current works from 2006. At the opening Dr. Birgitt Borkopp-Restle, director of the Museum für Angewandte Kunst in Cologne, will give a short introduction into Isæus-Berlin’s artistic work.
The artist was born 1963 in Stockholm and studied applied arts and design at the Konstfack Stockholm from 1984 to 1986. Afterwards she continued her studies at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts from 1986 to 1993. Her works were already presented worldwide in international exhibitions – among others at the biennial art festivals in Venice, Istanbul, Johannesburg and Melbourne, in the context of the group-exhibition “©EUROPE EXISTS” curated by Rosa Martìnez and Harald Szeemann at the Macedonian Museum of Contemporary Art in Thessaloniki (GR) as well as at museums in Breda (NL), Helsinki, Copenhagen, Madrid and Barcelona. In 2006 the Liljevalchs konsthall in Stockholm organised a considerable solo-show, which was accompanied by an extensive catalogue.
Meta Isæus-Berlin’s paintings and drawings always comprise a narrative element. Her works show people deeply lost in thought and reverie or busily engaged in intense conversations. But even if the interiors are deserted, Isæus-Berlin’s works feature a high theatrical character. The mood is concentrated and the pictorial space resembles a stage where we become witnesses to dramas whose content we can only imagine. In reference to the French and English literature of the 19th century the artist potentials the empathy of the beholder in her pictorial world by the choice of special titles which add another meaningful dimension to the respective painting.
The most fascinating about Meta Isæus-Berlin art is, that she does not make use of certain symbols, but creates the subtle, psychological dimension just by her unique, sensual-corporal charging of everyday objects. Her expressive handling of shapes and colours inevitably reminds of the fin de siècle. Thus the artist often chooses historical furniture with opulent animal and floral ornaments, which stimulates our imagination. This does also apply to the genre of the selected objects – in the paintings “Alone Again“ and “Me and My Brother“ miniatures and masks metaphorical refer to the personal affairs of the person mentioned in the titles. In the work “Moonlight“ the shape and order of the chairs around a table remind the spectator of two persons whose life stories have apparently been engraved in the tabletop. Isæus-Berlin’s painted interiors seem to be alive in a magical manner – they are vibrating, breathing, murmuring and whispering. In the painting “Sorrow“ the scared and dolorous views are accumulated in the backrest of the armchairs. In “Nymfeum“ the warm colours of the pillows and the soft curves of the wooden bed-heads create a mood of intimacy and security. At the same time the abstract stream of blue colour gushing from the ceiling on to the bed merges the furniture with its environment and turns this scene into something dreamful and surreal.
This dissolution of the pictorial space is a further distinguishing mark of the works of Meta Isæus-Berlin. The luminous, intense colours flow like lava from the ceilings and walls and invest the painting with a very dynamic character. The central perspective is subverted by the simultaneity of top and side views (e.g. “Venus“) or the coexistence of several sections with different perspectives (e.g. “Heat“). This creates an unstable spatial perception, which is evocative of dreams and hallucinations and causes irritation and unease. It is the perspective of an inner reality, which is driven by feelings like loneliness, fear and desolation, but also by sexual desire and excessive, sensual pleasure.
In this context the work “The Rehearsal“ – chosen by the artist to entitle the whole exhibition – occupies a central position. Although the title refers to a rehearsal, there is not shown any actor, observer or director. One gets to see a show room with two tiers and an empty stage with a record player on a music stand. The entire room is shrouded by a deep red, billowing curtain which arouses connotations of flaming fire or pulsating flesh. Our unexpressed feelings and thoughts are the ones, that are put on stage here. The artist herself is the director. Meta Isæus-Berlin’s extraordinary ability to charge common scenes and interiors with certain connotations stimulates our fantasy and reveals the world of archetypes, we are holding within ourselves from the very first moment when we were born.
MORE EXHIBITIONS
