Permanent installations
Kasia Fudakowski was born in London, UK, in 1985. She lives and works in Berlin, Germany.
The young, British-Polish, Berlin-based artist Kasia Fudakowski was asked to work out an idea for a sliding gate at the visitors’ entrance of the gallery, on the side of the building. In a grand, bold design, Fudakowski brought together her experiments on humour as the basis for a sculptural language – which incidentally also forms the basis of her entire oeuvre - with her investigations into the possibilities of the gate as a sculptural genre. The design also takes its inspiration from a rural tradition that still exists in both Poland and Belgium, namely the home cultivation of tomatoes, a recreational pastime that is mainly aimed at growing the finest and largest possible vegetal specimens.
Fudakowski explains: “The idea behind this gate design is to take full advantage of the setting and the movement of the gate frame to create a semi-kinetic sculpture. Inspired by a combination of classical wrought iron gate styles, the hobbyist’s pride in improvisation and DIY and theories on concrete comedy, this design is an attempt to visually mirror a certain ‘pull back and reveal’ joke structure.”
When the gate is open, only part of it can be seen; the gate slides away into a niche. When the gate is closed, the wrought-iron tomato plants emerge, and a stuttering neon light switches on, emphasizing the narrative, humorous aspect of the act. The symmetrical construction of the gate, in two exactly equal, mirrored zones, is also of importance: “When the gate is operated, and begins to move out of the building, a mess of tomato vines, strung together and fixed to the main frame of the gate are revealed. Also suspended on chains, swinging at an angle, is a regular white neon tube light, which is turned on as the gate starts to move, so that one sees the initial flashes of light as the tube turns on. This will all add to the natural rhythm of the piece’s movement. Up until the mid point of the gate, we see only a chaotic mess of tomato plants etc. Once the gate has gone beyond this, however, the chaos of the first half is revealed as exactly mirrored in the second. The chaos of the first half is brought to impeccable order through its mirrored repetition, and the result is reminiscent of very elaborate palace or cathedral gates rather than the turmoil of a home grower’s pride.”
Kasia showed her work solo in 2011 in Villa Tokyo, Japan and Chert Gallery, Berlin. She also showed solo at Zak/Branicka Gallery Berlin in 2009 and with ArtPol in Krakow in 2008. She has taken part in the group show “New Sculpture?” at the Zacheta National Gallery of Art, Warsaw, Poland in 2012, and in “Based in Berlin’, Kulturprojekte Berlin, “Petrosphere”, ReMap3, Athene and “Sculpture is three-dimensional artwork created by shaping or combining hard materials”, Johann König Gallery, Berlin, in 2011. In 2010 she took part in the “2nd Sculpture Biennale” in Przestrzeń Rozwinięcie, Warshaw and in “Die Kleine Improvisation” at the Stadgalerie, Kiel.
Kasia Fudakowski was born in London, UK, in 1985. She lives and works in Berlin, Germany.
The young, British-Polish, Berlin-based artist Kasia Fudakowski was asked to work out an idea for a sliding gate at the visitors’ entrance of the gallery, on the side of the building. In a grand, bold design, Fudakowski brought together her experiments on humour as the basis for a sculptural language – which incidentally also forms the basis of her entire oeuvre - with her investigations into the possibilities of the gate as a sculptural genre. The design also takes its inspiration from a rural tradition that still exists in both Poland and Belgium, namely the home cultivation of tomatoes, a recreational pastime that is mainly aimed at growing the finest and largest possible vegetal specimens.
Fudakowski explains: “The idea behind this gate design is to take full advantage of the setting and the movement of the gate frame to create a semi-kinetic sculpture. Inspired by a combination of classical wrought iron gate styles, the hobbyist’s pride in improvisation and DIY and theories on concrete comedy, this design is an attempt to visually mirror a certain ‘pull back and reveal’ joke structure.”
When the gate is open, only part of it can be seen; the gate slides away into a niche. When the gate is closed, the wrought-iron tomato plants emerge, and a stuttering neon light switches on, emphasizing the narrative, humorous aspect of the act. The symmetrical construction of the gate, in two exactly equal, mirrored zones, is also of importance: “When the gate is operated, and begins to move out of the building, a mess of tomato vines, strung together and fixed to the main frame of the gate are revealed. Also suspended on chains, swinging at an angle, is a regular white neon tube light, which is turned on as the gate starts to move, so that one sees the initial flashes of light as the tube turns on. This will all add to the natural rhythm of the piece’s movement. Up until the mid point of the gate, we see only a chaotic mess of tomato plants etc. Once the gate has gone beyond this, however, the chaos of the first half is revealed as exactly mirrored in the second. The chaos of the first half is brought to impeccable order through its mirrored repetition, and the result is reminiscent of very elaborate palace or cathedral gates rather than the turmoil of a home grower’s pride.”
Kasia showed her work solo in 2011 in Villa Tokyo, Japan and Chert Gallery, Berlin. She also showed solo at Zak/Branicka Gallery Berlin in 2009 and with ArtPol in Krakow in 2008. She has taken part in the group show “New Sculpture?” at the Zacheta National Gallery of Art, Warsaw, Poland in 2012, and in “Based in Berlin’, Kulturprojekte Berlin, “Petrosphere”, ReMap3, Athene and “Sculpture is three-dimensional artwork created by shaping or combining hard materials”, Johann König Gallery, Berlin, in 2011. In 2010 she took part in the “2nd Sculpture Biennale” in Przestrzeń Rozwinięcie, Warshaw and in “Die Kleine Improvisation” at the Stadgalerie, Kiel.
Stephan Balkenhol was born in Fritzlar (Hessen), Germany, in 1957. He lives and works in Karlsruhe and Berlin, Germany, and Meisenthal, France.
“Paar auf Drehscheiben” was designed and realized by Stephan Balkenhol in 2008 for the Geburtsklinik of Erlangen, Germany and Deweer Gallery.
A man and a woman stand on a high pedestal. The woman stands on a small red cylinder that allows her to turn around her own axis. The man stands on a separate, larger, green cylinder that allows him to turn around the woman. The rotational movements of the man and the woman, and hence their relative positions (including all possible relational suggestions) are caused by the wind.
The stately arrangement of two restrained human figures caught in an implicit (inter) relationship is a typical style characteristic of the German sculptor.
His most important, recent solo shows include his exhibitions in the St. Elizabeth Church in Kassel (2012), in the Musée de Grenoble (2010), in the Deichtorhallen in Hamburg (2009), the National Museum of Art Osaka (2005) and the Sprengel Museum in Hanover (2003). In 2006-2007, an extensive exhibition of his work travelled from the Staatliche Kunsthalle Baden-Baden to the MKM Museum Küppersmühle für Moderne Kunst, Duisburg and on to the Museum der Moderne Salzburg Mönchsberg. Stephan Balkenhol has held solo shows in galleries all over the world, from Tokyo to Montreal and from Johannesburg to Helsinki. He has exhibited in Deweer Gallery since 1987. Although Stephan Balkenhol is mostly known for his figurative wooden sculptures, many monumental bronze sculptures created by him can be found in cities and on public squares. The sculptures of the internationally renowned artist are included in major
museum and private collections worldwide.
Jan De Cock was born in Brussels in 1976. He lives and works in Brussels, Belgium.
To mark the 25th anniversary of Deweer Gallery in 2004, the gallery commissioned the then 28-year-old sculptor to design and realise a sculpture which could also serve as a functional office for the gallery staff. The very concise commission description called for the design and realisation of workplaces for four staff members, ample storage for catalogues, books, and records, an area that facilitates contact between visitors of the gallery and users of the office, and a secluded seating area, all within an existing central space located between the current Lobby and Room II. And all this of course replete with the usual office equipment: lighting, heating, electricity, and telephone and computer connections. The result is both a sculpture created in De Cock’s now famous wooden panels (in various finishes, colours, and textures) and his typical, constructed and varied modular elements (volumes, frames, connections, ...) and a singular, functional workplace whose
pronounced vertical lines and top lighting evoke a “gothic” flair.
At the time of the realization of “Denkmal 6AB” in 2004, Jan De Cock had already acquired a strong reputation in Belgium with exhibitions at the Museum voor Schone Kunsten (Museum of Fine Arts) in Ghent (2002), and the university Boekentoren Henry Van de Velde, also in Ghent (2004). These were followed by much talked about solo exhibitions at Tate Modern London (2005), MoMA - Museum of Modern Art in New York (2008), the Paleis voor Schone Kunsten Brussels (2009) and the Staatliche Kunsthalle Baden-Baden (2012).
‘The Bullet That Takes A Million Years To Hit’ was developed by Andy Wauman as his contribution to the exhibition ‘KANAL’, which was set up along the canal Roeselare – Lys in 2012, to mark the 150th anniversary of the waterway. The work was set up on the bank of the canal in Ingelmunster.
Throughout his oeuvre, Wauman regularly employs recognizable images or motifs taken from contemporary culture, using signs drawn from the everyday environment and materials that determine our everyday urban environment, or, in the terms of the artist ‘our city jungle’. Andy Wauman is a romantic who utilises contemporary icons and symbols, and the language of the enemy. The galvanized steel bullet, for example, is made of the same material as the guardrails along our motorways.
Andy Wauman's images seem to possess a signalling function as well as a poetic, symbolic expressiveness. A bullet – in spite of its highly aesthetic appearance – obviously refers to power, violence, terror and devastating wars. Yet this bullet is not fired. This bullet does not lead to destruction. Rather, it is a peaceful act of resistance. The destructive power of the bullet retains the artist's energetic potential. This bullet is not intended to injure or kill someone in a fraction of an instant. This work reaches its target in the long term. And it continues to reach its target, time and again, for every visitor. The bullet as a metaphor for the artwork.
In Panamarenko’s oeuvre we may find only a few projects for a robot. First there was ‘Automaat Alluminaut’, evidence of which is given on a 1970 drawing. The name of the robot is inspired by the American movie ‘Jason and the Argonauts’ (1963). The robot has a globe-shaped body and long stelt-like arms and legs. But Panamarenko never realized the work; according to his own sayings he would not know what he would commission the robot to do. In 2004 the idea to realize a working robot comes up again and results in ‘Arlikoop’, a robot that still doesn’t function. During the summer of 2004 Panamarenko embarks on a Russian nuclear icebreaker for a cruise to the North Pole, together with his wife. He takes the Arlikoop object along. In the night of July 9, 2004, in the vicinity of the North Pole, Panamarenko leaves the ship, places ‘Arlikoop’ in the arctic snow and makes some photographs of it. Of one of those photographs Deweer Gallery together with Panamarenko developed the Noordpool-Arlikoop outdoor canvas.