On October 27th, opened Argentinian artist Elian Chali “Molestia”, his European debut exhibition at BC Gallery in Berlin showcasing a completely new body of work.
MOLESTIA consists of a series of artworks with a minimalistic approach and a strong dialogue with the exhibiting space. The proposal of the artworks is to erase the line between paintings and sculptures by using unconventional shapes and the absence of personal human touch. The technical aspects do not allow the images to be analysed in a traditional sense as they seek to transform the concepts and ideas conceived by the physical human structure which establishes the dominant laws by which we live. The exhibition has two main columns, reduction and morphological tension. Understanding the space as one more element in the composition, the specific placement of the artworks in the space emphasizes the intention of a forced perspective, a different way for the works to be viewed. The morphological tension pretends to be present but is not visible. Like an exquisite corpse, the works are in dialogue with each other even though they don’t have any intended correlativity. They can each work by themselves or they can work together. They can work like something that is not an artwork or something that is to be shown in a gallery. In the end, it is the dream of art, to escape itself.
“MOLESTIA is my first solo show after five years and my very first solo show in Europe.My intention is to return to the gallery space by annoying everything. Annoy the white cube. Annoy the canvas and acrylic. Annoy the way of making artworks. Annoy the private property. Annoy the market laws. Annoy the politically correct. Annoy the figurative. Annoy the abstract. Annoy the space itself. Annoy the ideas of contemporary art. Annoy the ideas of urban art. Annoy the rules. Annoy myself. Why annoy? To leave the comfort zone. To not create artworks that please or conform to the modern world.” Elian Chali
The exhibition runs through December 23rd 2017 at the gallery located on Libauerstraße 14 10245 Berlin.
About the Artist
Elian Chali’s work is characterised by the close dialogue with the environment in which he finds himself. Architecture, climate issues and socio-political development are some of the factors that influence the artist’s composition through basic geometry and abstraction. The use of complimentary colors underlines our basic nature of things while geometrical shapes and forms translate to the our urban lifestyle. The additional mixed media content shows the tension within this world of constant conflict between nature and technology. The main theme of his work is the city. Through photography and painting, Elian seeks to open a discussion which spans from the current social problems, to the poetry of the habitat in which we live in. Through numerous travels around the world, Elian is constantly exposed to both the beauty and ugliness which surrounds us in equal measure in every day life and invites the viewer to process these issues with him through his paintings.
Author: Fran
Founder and editor of Urbanite. Street Art lover who after the finishing her MA thesis on the Mexican and Norwegian muralist movement in the 1920-50s, developed a fascination for street art and graffiti that eventually led to collaborations with different art blogs, including the creation of this one.
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