Living With The Stars

Dec 7, 2022 - March 5, 2023

Fotofestival SOLAR at Pinacoteca do Ceará, Fortaleza, Brazil

curated by Ângela Berlinde

with Cristina de Middel, Diego Moreno, Dominique Teufen, Gloria Oyzarbal, Guadalupe Milles, Hoda Afshar, Jana Nowack, Lisandro Suriel, River Claure, Shinji Nagabe, Yael Martinez

In this edition VENTO SOLAR throws a spark into the past by illuminating ancestral narratives to build new imaginaries and meanings for the future, proposing a reflection on the importance of dreams and their transforming power. Perhaps this is an opportunity to reconstruct our existence with joy, with hearts lifted high and eyes turned to the heavens, in the encounter with the magic and luminosity of the stars.

Exhibition views: Igor Ribeiro

Berlin based artist

Feb 28 - March 21, 2020

ZWANG

at C.G. Boerner, New York, USA

curated by Kylie Manning

with Katie Armstrong, Lucas Ajemian, Carly Burnell, Anders Bergstrom, Gaby Collins- Fernandez, Patrice Helmar, Dan Hougland, Sarah Irvin, Kimia Ferdowsi Kline, Andrew Kuo, Kathryn Lynch, Jackie Manning, Grace Metzler, Matthew Miller, Jay Miriam, Jana Nowack, Christina Nicodema, Leanor K Ray, Andre Razo, Tino Razo, Michael Samuels, Peter Shear, Christofer Taylor, Anne Vieux

“Zwang” is a German word that does not translate easily into English. Its meanings are multifold. In the context of studio practices the philosophical aspects of Zwang—the necessitation to act in a certain precircumscribed way—are of great interest. The word oscillates between “innerer” and “äusserer Zwang,” a controlling influence coming from the outside vs. a powerful inner need to act in a specific, predetermined way.

This multivalent concept of Zwang was the guiding principle for the selection of works brought together in this show. All of them combine components of restriction and strength while adding an abstract element of play. Yet while we usually think of restriction and strength as opposing forces, the artists here have each developed specific processes in which force and constraint intertwine. The resulting artistic languages guide them on an often unpredictable path to new forms of constructed fiction. The artist’s studio becomes a place that might be best described with the German phrase “wo sich Fuchs und Hase ‘gute Nacht’ sagen” (where fox and hare say ‘goodnight’ to one another)—i.e. the middle of nowhere.

Through process-oriented practices the selected artists all incorporate the best aspects of Zwang to create novel works that transcend trend. Feeling both informed and fresh, they deploy a wide variety of predetermined practices. Each artist thereby utilizes Zwang to unveil and share secret moments that otherwise might have been missed.

Exhibition view, ZWANG, C.G. Boerner, New York, USA

Exhibition invitation, ZWANG, C.G. Boerner, New York, USA

LIVING WITH THE STARS

“Every product of nature, at one moment in time existed, in a liquid state.” Dayna Gross

Jana Nowack is exploring the connection between microcosm and macrocosm and between her subjectivity and the objectivity of the universe and she seeks dialogue with nature to learn more about herself and her connection to the natural world.

Therefore she explores the ways in which materials affect each other causing a series of multiple transformations. The material she utilises passes through a variety of phases. An important aspect is the unpredictable ways in which natural processes influence every work. A certain moment is captured photographically by her and exists only in her images.