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PAST EXHIBITIONS
BLOSSOM
Gabriele Herzog & Vesna Vrdoljak
May 2022
Gabriele Herzog
Gabriele Herzog works the surfaces of her canvas in such a way that the elements of light and dark, or rather, negative and positive space become complex and undefined. What was once positive now appears to be negative. There is a formidable and delicate tension between the balance of positive and negative space. This tension evokes a reaction of emotional immediacy, a sense that the balance could be knocked off kilter at any time. The works are viewed with caution. The finished works expose a sense of calm but are menacing nonetheless.
Her works are a direct nod to abstraction. She focuses on the juxtaposition of block colour and form on the canvas and the subsequent interaction and interpretation of such forms. Her forms, however, although geometric are organic and amorphous. They appear to float and/or to vibrate, with serene subtlety but to dramatic effect. Her intention is to apply as little as possible to the canvas. She prefers to take away, than to add. Her choice to use raw, untreated canvas re- emphasises her desire to express as much as she can with only the essential, and without the need to overwork the expanse of the surface, and hence does not cause interruption to the harmony of the composition. It is this combination of application of paint, and of thought to brushstroke, which keeps her works in precarious balance.
Sascha Gianella
Vesna Vrdoljak
Vesna Vrdoljak creative process is a blend of vintage books and magazines, photographs and ambiguous reconstruction through minute shifts in layered compositions. By slightly rearranging the layers of her collages, Vesna distorts the image’s traditional roots to convey a newly created dimension. Imbued with beauty and escapism, Vesna’s work plays off both the desire for the familiarity and the avant-garde; it is an open invitation to explore a new atmospheric plane within her work, rather than search for a definitive meaning.
‘the desire for familiarity and avant-garde’
"I make collages to create my own reality. I cut and glue by hand. The limited possibilities of the analogue working method appeal to me. The tactility of mainly old photos and paper is a major value in my work.
With the least possible cuts I want to make a new and neat image. I like to create surreal and undefinable images to offer the viewer his own interpretation. I prefer to display an atmosphere or mood instead of a definite story; mostly tinted with a nostalgic feeling due to the old material I prefer to use.
My collages are about beauty and escapism. The pure aesthetics of composition and color combinations can be very satisfying to me."
