Le Grand Bleu
Group show with works by Anne-Lise Coste, Slawomir Elsner, Klodin Erb, Franziska Furter, Pierre Haubensak, Clare Goodwin, Sebastian Utzni and wiedemann/mettler.
12 December 2020 – 23 January 2021
We are delighted to present the group exhibition Le Grand Bleu. The title is due to a spontaneous idea while viewing a large, royal blue watercolor by Slawomir Elsner. On the one hand, the title refers directly to the blue water color and the format of the work, on the other hand, it is an allusion to the 1988 diving film of the same name by Luc Besson. The color blue is associated with concepts such as longing, spirituality, spiritual development and so on. Although these attributions should be treated with caution, in these strange times a spiritual interpretation may well be indicated. To the right of the watercolor hangs a hatched colored pencil drawing, also by Slawomir Elsner, depicting a Saint Sebastian after Raphael.
A large new painting with an orange accent stripe by Clare Goodwin called Jane and John and a long Banner / Luc Besson by Franziska Furter revealing instructions how to meet mermaids from the film Le Grand Bleu complete the group of works in the showcase space.
For the gallery's main room, artist duo wiedemann/mettler has created seven new works of photographs and paintings under a transparent layer of wax especially for the exhibition. Depicted are transfigured places of longing, blue skies, an island, and vast horizons. A door by Anne-Lise Coste Blue Blue Blue (Ocean) stands in the center of the wall. It opens a fictional view to the ocean and is an indication of exciting gallery news for the coming year. Hanging next to the door are eight works by Sebastian Utzni from his Cour des Miracles series, which take you on wonderful head trips by reading a blind-embossed text and relating it to a photograph.
On the short wall hangs a painting by Pierre Haubensak, in which he applied blue-gray paint to a chrome-yellow ground with a 50 centimeters wide tin spatula, foreshadowing a city view in wide format at dusk. Two works on paper by Franziska Furter from her Scattered Rainbows series follow. She created these depictions of rainbows in a water bath by dabbing the paper with the particles of paint floating on the surface of the water. The early work Shades II, a negative starry sky with enamel paint and Trap/Bay, an exquisitely knotted blue nylon rope complete Franziska Furter's group of works. Next to these works is a blue, crumpled upholstered patent leather star sculpture by wiedemann/mettler with the uplifting title bluish encouragement.
Two paintings by Klodin Erb's from the Memory series hang in the room as gems. These paintings were created for the group exhibition Vehlandschaften at the Talmuseum St. Antönien. Klodin Erb discovered objects in the museum, which she copied into her paintings. In doing so, she imitated in them the surface of ceramics, which is held in high esteem in the valley in the artisanal tradition of the Lötscher dynasty of potters. In the back room hang five new watercolors by Slawomir Elsner From the A4 series, three amazing even watercolors, a color gradient and a constellation of stars.
Slawomir Elsner, From the A4 Series Sheet 202, 2020, watercolour on paper, 29.7 x 21 cm (11-5/8 x 8-1/4 in.)
We are very happy to close this turbulent year with this coherent exhibition of works by artists from the gallery program. We are looking forward to your visit and will come up with exciting news regarding the gallery in the coming year.