This summer France and Germany will be celebrating a summer of culture and sport. As France will be the host country of the Olympic Games, while Germany will host the European football championship. The celebration of the shared values that unite the two countries through organizing these worldwide sporting events has extended to the Galerie Melbye-Konan:
The exhibition "Mouvement" is the result of a close cooperation with the French Consulate General and the Institut français in Hamburg.
It presents works by artists from the German-speaking and French-speaking world, representing the friendship between the two countries. The artists include Yannick Ackah, Atowla, Belén, François Martinache, Stella Meris, Ngoye, Araks Sahakyan and Karolin Schwab. Their works will be on display in the 400m2 exhibition space of the Melbye-Konan Gallery from 20 June to 24 August 2024.
The highlight of the exhibition will be the organisation of the French National Day celebrations at the gallery.
The ambiguity of the title "Mouvement" (French for movement) is intentional: There are political, historical, social, sporting and artistic interpretations of movement, which the artists explore in their works in different ways. In this exhibition, we also want to explore what movement means for art and artists. To give a broad perspective, Melbye-Konan Gallery presents abstract and figurative working artists from different countries. In their work, the artists show how they explore colour movement, internal movement or are influenced by social or political movement. Movement is also a link between all these interpretations and, in the exhibition, a cheerful invitation to move from one dialogue of these interpretations to another.
Yannick Ackah (Yamoussoukro, Côte d'Ivoire, 1992) is one of the most sought-after contemporary artists and the most promising of the new generation of French-speaking African artists. He has created a painting especially for the exhibition entitled "La Jeunesse" (French for Youth), which is dedicated to the social theme of what moves young people, not only regionally, but beyond borders. His powerful works, which combine references to African culture and Western art history, testify to Ackah's individual perspective on the movements of his generation.
Part of the youth that Yannick Ackah's painting addresses is the emerging contemporary artist Atowla (born 1997 in Ivory Coast). His work questions the power of pictorial portraiture on multiple levels, from reproducing historical and iconic images to reflecting the age of social media. Atowla's photo-like paintings use a mix of techniques and materials, primarily oil and acrylic paint with marbling, to create realistic figure paintings and portraits. This unique approach gives his work an intense character, accentuated by bold colours. Atowla is moved to reshape the colonial narrative of photography through his depiction of black individuals, while also depicting black empowerment.
Abstract artist Belén (born 1997 in Hamburg, Germany) is a graduate of the prestigious Royal College of Art in London. Her work captures the movement of colour, which for Belén is a way of expressing philosophical and spiritual themes that stem from her early studies in psychology. Belén's bold approach to expressing her deep feelings and questions in turn leads to self-reflection in the viewer.
French digital artist François Martinache (born 1967, lives in Lille and works in Roubaix, France) will be exhibiting for the first time at the gallery. Martinache skilfully combines techniques such as glitches, artificial intelligence and 3D scanning. His artistic exploration delves into the intersection of the real and the virtual, incorporating animation, digital imagery and occasional installations to create heterogeneous works. Blending elements of classical still life with remnants of the old digital world, Martinache's art contributes to the evolving movement of digital art.
Berlin-based artist Stella Meris (born 1990 in Basel, Switzerland) is a contemporary painter and multimedia artist. Meris' large-scale paintings document the experience of meditation and movement, and they are additionally involved in activist movements within the queer and political scenes. She uses bright neon colours and various materials such as acrylic, egg tempera, oil pastel, edding, marker and spray to capture a physical space. They often lie down on the paper and playfully sketch their own silhouettes.
Much in demand as a contemporary artist, Ngoye (born 1980 in Abidjan, Côte d'Ivoire) also explores form and colour on canvas in a neo-expressionist style, but in the context of human dynamics and inner states. True psychosocial phenomena are different from outward appearances, emotions are isolated from the outside world, true identity is hidden. This is a theme that underlies all of Ngoye's work and is reflected in the symbol of the mask, which is metaphorically linked to the tradition of his homeland.
Araks Sahakyan (born 1990 in Hrazdan, Armenia) is a young polymorphous artist who has already established herself in contemporary art and her work will be exhibited for the first time at Galerie Melbye-Konan. Sahakyans art is ranging from felt-tip drawing and tapestry to performance and multimedia installation - is full of cultural references, reflecting her life story, the memory of her family and her hybrid identity. She was born in Armenia, grew up in Spain before choosing to live and work in Paris. In her work, Sahakyan is moved by communication with others, the intimate relationships between bodies and, more broadly, the relationship to the living.
In her site-specific installations and sculptures, Karolin Schwab (born 1987 in Stralsund, Germany) explores different perceptions of landscape and space, as well as the relationship of the viewer to his or her ever-changing surroundings. Her work embraces the gentle processes and movement in everything, while at the same time seeking a moment of stillness. Her circles and installations are a harmonious relationship of colour and form.
As in Yannick Ackah's work aimed at young people, the exhibition tends to showcase a younger programme of artists who either take the title 'Mouvement' as inspiration for their artistic style or whose art is inspired by generational and world issues.
We look forward to a mo(u)ving exhibition with you during the Summer of Culture and Sport 2024.
