ISH#23 Sommer & Kohl (Paris) Vernissage Friday 28th January After last year’s Berlin Paris exchange with one of the most established and influential galleries in Paris, Galerie Denise René, rive gauche, this year Sommer & Kohl will collaborate with one of the youngest and most dynamic non-commercial project spaces in Paris, The Institute of Social Hypocrisy. On the occasion of this exchange we are pleased to present new works by Beni Bischof. Beni Bischof In the past years, Beni Bischof (*1976, lives and works in St. Gallen, Switzerland) has become known for his striking, funny works. With much humour and an obvious disposition for chaos he uses painting, drawing, collage, sculpture and photo-manipulation. The artist is also the editor of “Laser-Magazine”, which he publishes approximately 6 times per year in an edition of 12 to 80 as photocopied fanzines. Despite a strong interest in current affairs, pop and underground, Bischof’s work cannot be reduced to one particular theme. The artist’s intuitive approach is driven by curiosity and a keen urge to produce. Often inspired by images from his own archive or purposefully collected materials, he develops unique, strangely distant realizations, which impress by their uncompromising subjectivity. Clichés are laid bare, the familiar is transformed into something strange. In the process time gets mixed up. It may be that we are reminded of medieval, mystical illustrations, or we race through the present as if possessed. Sometimes the paintings defy interpretation and let us dwell in surreal worlds, another times Bischof tells everyday tales irritating in their banality, and yet another times his works are highly political commentaries on our society. Fragments from his idiosyncratic universe appear in constantly new formations, impact upon seemingly insignificant public imagery and in this way catapult us through time and space. The messages are oddly familiar and at the same time hermetic, impenetrable and absurd. In any case they create a mentally and emotionally charged atmosphere, which develops a magic pull. For further information and/or images please contact Sommer & Kohl. 29th January – 5th February 1 Rue Charles-Francois Dupuis |