LKFF Sculptures PRESENCE | Caspar Berger | Mario Dilitz | Sean Henry | Jacob Epstein

Mijntje Lukoff is proud to present

PRESENCE - OPENING TOMORROW

You are personally invited for a
PRIVATE PREVIEW THURSDAY 8 NOVEMBER FROM 6:00 to 8:30 PM
The artists will be present.

EXHIBITION FROM 9 NOVEMBER UNTIL 22 DECEMBER, 2012

« PRESENCE » is a gathering of human figures, carved in wood, modeled in clay, painted, cast in bronze or in silver. LKFF Art & Sculpture Projects selected three striking contemporary sculptors, each recognized for their interpretation of the human being: Caspar BERGER (NL), Mario DILITZ (CH) and Sean HENRY (UK), alongside the pioneer in modern sculpture, Jacob EPSTEIN (UK).

Caspar Berger (Utrecht, 1965-)

       Caspar Berger studied Plastic and Spatial Forms at the AKI Academy for Visual Art in Enschede (1984-1990). Like many of his contemporaries, Berger concentrated on mixed media work: abstract constructions and video installations. He continued to explore this field at the Jan van Eyck Academie in Maastricht (1990-1992).
        Berger was first inspired by the work of video artists such as Bill Viola, Bruce Nauman and Nam Jun Paik, but later, his love of the Italian High Renaissance led him to choose the medium of sculpture. Berger thus associated himself with the 1980s revival of figurative art, mostly exploring the tension between the external and internal, between reality and image. For Berger, the body is merely a façade that conceals emotion. He deliberately leaves the surface of the statues unfinished, thus also triggers associations with decay. “I make a cast, a copy of myself, but during the process the statue acquires a will of its own and a transformation takes place.” Berger’s postmodern interpretation of existing motifs is also apparent in the series of self-portraits that has been his focus since 2001. In his self-portrait series, Berger not only explores the phenomenon of the autonomous self-portrait, with its technic al and physical obstacles, but also subjects his own person to self-examination. In doing so he literally turns himself inwards.
        Caspar Berger lives and works in Amsterdam. More info...

Mario Dilitz (Innsbrug, 1973-)

      Mario Dilitz graduated from the Technical School for Wood Carving in St Ulrich (Italy) in 1999. The artist developed an impressive ability to manipulate the language of sculpture in order to give expression to the human form. He combines traditional sculptural knowledge, incredible craftsmanship with issues that are new and appealing to contemporary viewers.

       His work, bi-polar, challenges us. There is a strong contrast between the aesthetic beauty of his sculptures and the disquieting feelings they generate. Their grave expressions come as a contradiction to the almost porcelain aspect of the wood. Each artwork confronts its perfection to timeless existential issues. Even Mario Dilitz’s choice of material reveals these contradictions. His sculptures, most of them life-sized, are created out of high quality laminated wood. After a process of destruction and then construction the wood reaches a new form of stability, which wouldn’t have been possible in its natural condition. The artist visually accentuates this process by using dark red glue in the laminated wood.The use of this color signs his creations unmistakably, dramatizes them, as if the red color revealed some aching truth. Confronted to such strong presence, Mario Dilitz’s sculptures leave their viewers defenseless.

      Dilitz now works and lives in Axams near Innsbruck and Munich. More info...

Sean Henry (Woking, UK, 1965-)

      Sean Henry graduated from Bristol Polytechnic in 1987. He had his first solo exhibition in London in 1988 and was the first sculptor to win the Villiers David Prize in 1998.
      Despite their ostensible realism, Henry is not primarily concerned with a direct transposition of what he sees. The theme of his sculpture is the tension between the making and staging of figures that seem to belong to the real world, and the degree to which they echo our experiences and sympathies. The sculptures are painted by the artist, each individually and directly on the bronze or ceramic surface. Henry has become adept at the manipulation of scale and almost always avoids life-sized representation. His sculptures are self-contained, often pensive, preoccupied by their inner imaginings. They exude what the ancient Greeks used to call sophrosyne, or self-control. This sense of being grounded is central to Henry’s figures and creates their strong physical presence, their sense of being and enduring. Among his past projects one must mention «Couple» - UK’s first permanent offshore sculpture - a large scale, 13 m high , 18 m wide bronze and steel sculpture installed off the North East coast of England.
       Sean Henry lives and works in the UK. He is married and has three children. More info...

Jacob Epstein (1880-1959)

      Jacob Epstein was an American-born British sculptor who helped pioneer modern sculpture. Born in the United States, he moved to Europe in 1902, becoming a British citizen in 1911. In London, Epstein involved himself with a bohemian and artistic crowd. Revolting against ornate, pretty art, he made bold, often harsh and massive forms of bronze or stone. His sculpture is distinguished by its vigorous rough-hewn realism. Avant-garde in concept and style, his controversial works often shocked his audience, challenging taboos on what was appropriate subject matter for public artworks. Epstein would often sculpt the images of friends, of his mistresses, his family, casual acquaintances, and even people dragged from the street into his studio almost at random.
     His portrait bronzes retain the immediacy of his touch on the clay, the mood of the sitters as well as the artist’s own feelings. Epstein can be considered as the best 20th century sculptor capturing the human soul in bronze. Among his subjects, Sunita (in this show) was his best know model, and will be on view in this show. Jacob Epstein died 21 August 1959 in London and is buried in Putney Vale Cemetery.

« PRESENCE » is a gathering of human figures, carved in wood, modeled in clay, painted, cast in bronze or in silver. LKFF Art & Sculpture Projects selected three striking contemporary sculptors, each recognized for their interpretation of the human being: Caspar BERGER (NL), Mario DILITZ (CH) and Sean HENRY (UK), alongside the pioneer in modern sculpture, Jacob EPSTEIN (UK).

The tradition of portraits goes back a long way. Many contemporary sculptors perpetuate this tradition, while only a few, as Epstein in his time, go beyond the mere representation of an individual. Far from falling in the «Tussaud-trap», SEAN HENRY portrays the anonymous, his very straightforward depiction of appearances invests his figures with an almost palpable psychological presence; meanwhile, Henry leaves the surfaces of his painted bronzes rough, his application of color confident and painterly. CASPAR BERGER questions the link between the image and the soul; his portraits based on molded humans question the link between the copy and the original, the dead material and the living body. MARIO DILITZ’s wooden figures polarize. There is a strong contrast between their aesthetic beauty and the content of the issues, whe re a profound confrontation with the vagaries of human existence takes places.

In today’s art world, realism re-surfaces and continues to provide its serious practitioners with constant philosophical challenges. Visitors will discover how artists still more than ever try to make sense of «what we’re doing and why we’re here». Remarkable is the ability of these four artists to give expression to the human form, to transmit and translate the language of sculpture in order to trigger emotion. Their most minute details transform a piece from a basic anonymous figure to a universal commentary on the human spirit.

On view until 22 December 2012

« PRESENCE » est une exposition de figures humaines, taillées dans le bois, modelées dans la terre, peintes, coulées en bronze ou en argent. LKFF Art & Sculpture Projects a sélectionné trois sculpteurs surprenants, chacun reconnu pour son interprétation de l’être humain: CasparBERGER (NL), Mario DILITZ (CH) et Sean HENRY (UK) aux côtés d’un pionnier de la sculpture moderne, Sir JACOB EPSTEIN (UK).

La tradition du portrait remonte à la nuit des temps. Aujourd’hui, de nombreux sculpteurs perpétuent cette tradition, mais peu d’entre eux parviennent, comme Epstein à son époque, à dépasser la simple représentation de l’individu. Loin de sombrer dans un piège «Tussaud», Sean Henry portraitise l’anonyme. Sa retranscription très franche des attitudes investit ses figures d’une présence psychologique presque palpable. Il laisse ses surfaces brutes et applique ses couleurs sur les bronzes à la manière d’un peintre sur une toile. Caspar Berger interroge le rapport entre notre image extérieure et notre âme. Ses (auto-)portraits, réalisés à partir de moulages sur vif, questionnent le lien entre la copie et l’original, entre la matière inerte et le corps vivant. Les figures de Mario Dilitz sont bi-polaires et présentent un puissant contraste entre leur superbe esthétique et les questions existentielles qu’elles soulèvent. Elles confrontent leur beauté aux errances de l’existence humaine.

Le réalisme en sculpture revient à l’avant de la scène dans l’univers de l’Art Contemporain et offre à ses adeptes des défis philosophiques passionnants. Les visiteurs découvriront comment les artistes, aujourd’hui plus que jamais, tentent de dégager du sens de leur existence et de comprendre « ce que nous faisons ici » et « pourquoi nous sommes là? ». Cette exposition témoigne de l’habilité avec laquelle ces 4 artistes donnent vie à la forme humaine. Ils parviennent à traduire et transmettre des émotions fortes au travers du langage de la sculpture. Le moindre détail transforme une simple figure anonyme en un commentaire universel sur l’Etre humain.

More info...

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