Beni Bischof
26 Aug - 15 Oct 2011
BENI BISCHOF
27 August - 15 October, 2011
Galerie Nicola von Senger is pleased to present, for the first time, works by the Swiss artist Beni Bischof.
Being a freelance artist for only a few years, Bischof has already created a decided oeuvre that includes painting, drawing, collage, photography and sculpture. From these media it is drawing that he has pursued for the longest time and with the greatest intensity, nearing obsession. The direct
translation of thoughts and themes is typical for his drawings and corresponds with what is characteristic of Bischof’s oeuvre: spontaneity, intuition and coincidence.
In his paintings - canvases with unmixed oil paint a centimetre thick, caves of paint-puffs or plaster formations doused with paint – Bischof’s boisterously, nearly aggressive, spirit of production composes an absurd cosmos.
Everything that he comes across and that takes place around him serves as a source of inspiration. The daily flood of news is one influence and, without looking purposively for them, political or socially critical themes appear in his work. Images from the Print media also play a part in his work either directly or as a graphic statement. Accompanied by comments in a seemingly naive handwriting his pieces adopt a deliberately antiintellectual attitude.
However, it is always the formal aspect that awakens his interest in a piece and, following this, the content gains in importance. For instance, a fascination for the aesthetic appearance of the object itself is the precursor to Bischof’s explosion pictures; thereafter the combination of the brutality of the explosion and the tenderness of the clouds become essential to the piece.
The artist displays the absurdity and uncontrollability of daily life.
Trivial and apparently insignificant subjects are accentuated by him and placed into an altogether different perspective. He shows a society degenerated to grotesqueness but confronts it with wit and fantasy. Though the alienation of existing images plays a decisive role, he manipulates them radically and therefore they gain an absurd and ironic aspect.
Bischof draws on unlimited resources. For the richness of material he uses a variety of techniques and stylistic devices without conceptual archetypes or stylistic composition. At first sight his exhibitions resemble a chaos in which everything is placed intuitively on the walls and on the floor.
Many pieces are developed on site, the process still visible to the visitor who is invited to participate in Bischof’s way of thinking and working. The many individual parts assemble to form an overall picture that at first has an overwhelming effect but quickly develops into an atmosphere bursting with energy. The viewers find themselves in a world filled with bizarre wit and poetry, and notice that they, too, are a part of it.
27 August - 15 October, 2011
Galerie Nicola von Senger is pleased to present, for the first time, works by the Swiss artist Beni Bischof.
Being a freelance artist for only a few years, Bischof has already created a decided oeuvre that includes painting, drawing, collage, photography and sculpture. From these media it is drawing that he has pursued for the longest time and with the greatest intensity, nearing obsession. The direct
translation of thoughts and themes is typical for his drawings and corresponds with what is characteristic of Bischof’s oeuvre: spontaneity, intuition and coincidence.
In his paintings - canvases with unmixed oil paint a centimetre thick, caves of paint-puffs or plaster formations doused with paint – Bischof’s boisterously, nearly aggressive, spirit of production composes an absurd cosmos.
Everything that he comes across and that takes place around him serves as a source of inspiration. The daily flood of news is one influence and, without looking purposively for them, political or socially critical themes appear in his work. Images from the Print media also play a part in his work either directly or as a graphic statement. Accompanied by comments in a seemingly naive handwriting his pieces adopt a deliberately antiintellectual attitude.
However, it is always the formal aspect that awakens his interest in a piece and, following this, the content gains in importance. For instance, a fascination for the aesthetic appearance of the object itself is the precursor to Bischof’s explosion pictures; thereafter the combination of the brutality of the explosion and the tenderness of the clouds become essential to the piece.
The artist displays the absurdity and uncontrollability of daily life.
Trivial and apparently insignificant subjects are accentuated by him and placed into an altogether different perspective. He shows a society degenerated to grotesqueness but confronts it with wit and fantasy. Though the alienation of existing images plays a decisive role, he manipulates them radically and therefore they gain an absurd and ironic aspect.
Bischof draws on unlimited resources. For the richness of material he uses a variety of techniques and stylistic devices without conceptual archetypes or stylistic composition. At first sight his exhibitions resemble a chaos in which everything is placed intuitively on the walls and on the floor.
Many pieces are developed on site, the process still visible to the visitor who is invited to participate in Bischof’s way of thinking and working. The many individual parts assemble to form an overall picture that at first has an overwhelming effect but quickly develops into an atmosphere bursting with energy. The viewers find themselves in a world filled with bizarre wit and poetry, and notice that they, too, are a part of it.