Matthias Bitzer Sequences from a Volatile Now

Almine Rech Gallery is pleased to announce Sequences from a Volatile Now, Matthias Bitzer’s first solo exhibition in London. The exhibition consists of a series of new sculptural and wall works, which Bitzer conceives as a cohesive installation of disparate pieces.

Employing a characteristic simultaneity of figurative elements and abstract forms, Bitzer continues his exploration of history and identity in muted paint on canvas, monochrome paint on wood, and metal sculpture. Bitzer constantly engages a range of material that challenges his thinking and drives his practice. The large-scale paintings in Sequences from a Volatile Now dissolve, however, explicit reference to historical figures. Distinct from the investigation of specific literary characters like Brecht or Pessoa who appeared in previous bodies of work, the visages in Sequences from a Volatile Now are unimpeded by fixed identity, time or space. Splicing and refracting these alluring faces with shapes and lines, Bitzer begins to direct his attention to the present.

Describing a volatile present in the exhibition title, Bitzer nods to contemporary politics, but also frees the phrase from any constraining connotation. In The Time Traveller, for instance, an auratic face gazes into the distance, while the shapes that emerge from the canvas offer a portal that is at once a window, a shadow or a reflection. the dilemma of relativity, his first mobile, and the third investigator, offer a troublingly precise precariousness. Bitzer envelopes the ideas of past thinkers in the exhibition, particularly attentive to ruminations on what it means to be a meaningful contributor to society at different periods in time. Weaving concepts from Thoreau’s ‘Civil Disobedience’, Marcus Aurelius’ ‘Meditations’ and Elias Canetti’s ‘Mass and Power’ throughout his installation, Bitzer grapples with the potential for meaning-making in the present day.

Bitzer’s work is anchored by the vast intellectual touchpoints that inform his practice. Sources as diverse as Schrödinger’s cat (a quantum physics thought experiment) and Perec’s rumination on writing in ‘Species of Spaces’, for instance, seep into the works. The body of work bears an intimate kinship with poetry, as the likes of Walt Whitman and Goethe were also influential as Bitzer made these works. Whitman’s stature as a channeller poet who aims to express, but not contain his contemporaries in ‘Song of Myself’, for instance, is also similar to the way in which the figures in this exhibition act as vessels. Bitzer’s shapes and figures offer the viewer a window into what it could mean to contain an ever-changing present.

Matthias Bitzer (b. 1975, Stuttgart) has exhibited in numerous exhibitions regionally and internationally. Notable solo institutional exhibitions include ‘KNOCK / KNOCK / NEPOMUK’, Kunstverien Hechingen, Hechingen, Germany (2016); ‘Disintegration of the properties’, K21 Standëhaus, Kunstsammlung Nordrhein-Westfalen, Düsseldorf, Germany (July 2014-July 2015); ‘King Rat’, Project Arts Centre, Dublin, Ireland (2010); and ‘Palimpsest’, Kunstverein Hannover, Germany (2010). Group exhibitions include ‘Luce 01’, Palazzo Mongiò dell’Elefante della Torre, Galatina, Italy (2015); ‘Zeichen. Sprache. Bilder - Shrift in der Kunst seit den 1960er Jahren’, Städtische Galerie Karlsruhe, Karlsruhe, Germany (2013-2014); ‘Galerie Utopia / The Forgotten Bar project: The Garden of Eden’, Palais de Tokyo, Paris, France (2012); and ‘What You(ngs) See Is What You Get’, Rosenblum Collection, Paris, France (2011). His work is represented, among others, in the collections of the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, California, and Rosenblum Collection & Friends, Paris. Matthias Bitzer lives and works in Berlin.

马蒂亚斯·比泽尔

「多变当下中的次序」

2018年4月17日至5月19日

伦敦

阿尔敏·莱希画廊十分荣幸地宣布将在其伦敦空间为德国艺术家马蒂亚斯·比泽尔（Matthias Bitzer）举办个展「多变当下中的次序」（Sequences from a Volatile Now）。这是艺术家与画廊合作的第五次个展，将展出艺术家最新创作的一系列雕塑及墙上作品。对艺术家而言，本次展览应当被看作是一件完整的大型装置作品，其中的独立作品皆是它的组成部分。

比泽尔的创作以具象元素和抽象符号并存为特征，通过布面油画、木板和金属雕塑等多种媒介，他持续地探索诸如“历史”以及“身份”的话题。通过采用不同的媒材进行创作，比泽尔不断挑战着自己的固有观念，并以此推动艺术实践。艺术家在其以往的创作中从文学人物中汲取灵感，我们可以找到例如莱希特（Brecht）或佩索阿（Pessoa）等经典形象。然而，在此次展览中的大型绘画中，我们不再能够找到历史人物的原型。这些形象不再受固有的身份、时间和空间的限制。几何图形和线条在这些迷人脸庞之上拼接和折射，比泽尔将我们的注意力转移到当下。

展览标题中的“多变的当下”（a volatile present）是比泽尔对于当代政治的隐喻，同时保留了对这句话开放性的解读。在作品《时间旅行者》（The Time Traveller）中，比泽尔描绘了一张灵动的面庞，画中的人物凝视着远方。画中出现的几何图形，提供了一个“入口”，这似乎是一扇窗、一道阴影亦或是一个反射。《相对论的困境》（the dilemma of relativity）是比泽尔的第一个运动雕塑作品（mobile）；而《第三个调查员》（the third investigator）以一种精确的不稳定性令人隐隐感到不安。

在此次展览中，比泽尔将过往思想家们的观点内化于作品中，其中尤为显著的是对于人们在不同的历史时期中，对于“作为一个对社会有贡献意义的人的意义何在？”这一问题的反思。从卢梭（Thoreau）的《公民的不服从》（Civil Disobedience），到马可·奥勒留（Marcus Aurelius）的《沉思录》（Meditations）以及埃利亚斯·卡内蒂（Elias Canetti）的《群众与权力》（Mass and Power），他与当下格斗，试图创造全新的意义。

比泽尔的的艺术实践带有“文人”般的知识分子气质。他的灵感来源十分广泛，无论是“薛定谔的猫”（Schrödinger’s cat，一种量子物理思想实验），还是佩雷克（Perec）对“空间种类”（Species of Spaces）的描述，无一不渗透在比泽尔的作品之中。他的作品也与诗歌也有着密切的“亲缘关系”，如沃尔特·惠特曼（Walt Whitman）和歌德（Goethe）等诗人都对他的创作产生了深刻的影响。比泽尔作品中的形状和形象为观众提供了一扇窗，透过它人们可以体会到不断变化的当下的意义。

马蒂亚斯·比泽尔1975年生于德国斯图加特，其作品曾在世界多个地区以及国际性展览中展出。近期的美术馆个展包括：「KNOCK / KNOCK / NEPOMUK」，黑欣根艺术协会（Kunstverein Hechingen），黑欣根，德国（2016）；「属性的解体」（Disintegration of the properties），K21 Standëhaus，北莱茵-威斯特法伦艺术品收藏馆（Kunstsammlung Nordrhein-Westfalen），杜塞尔多夫，德国（2014年7月—2015年7月）；「国王鼠」（King Rat），Project 艺术中心（Project Arts Centre），都柏林，英国（2010）；以及「重写本」（Palimpsest），汉诺威艺术协会，德国（2010）。重要群展包括：「光 01」（Luce 01），Palazzo Mongiò dell’Elefante della Torre，加拉蒂纳，意大利（2015）；「字符、语言、 图像—自20世纪60年代以来的艺术写作」（Zeichen. Sprache. Bilder - Shrift in der Kunst seit den 1960er Jahren），卡尔斯鲁厄城市美术馆（Städtische Galerie Karlsruhe），卡尔斯鲁厄，德国（2013—2014）；「画廊乌托邦／被遗忘的酒吧项目：伊甸园」（Galerie Utopia / The Forgotten Bar project: The Garden of Eden），东京宫（Palais de Tokyo），巴黎，法国（2012）；以及「What You(ngs) See Is What You Get」，罗森布鲁姆收藏（Rosenblum Collection），巴黎（2011）等。他的作品被美国加利福尼亚州的洛杉矶美术馆（Los Angeles County Museum of Art），以及巴黎的罗森布拉姆收藏（Rosenblum Collection & Friends）收藏。如今比泽尔在柏林工作和生活。