“Around the Globe” by Florian Borkenhagen at ammann//gallery
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“Around the Globe,” a retrospective of Florian Borkenhagen, features works that have been created between 1994 and 2018. Curated by founder Gabrielle Ammann, the exhibition is on view through March 21, 2019. In continuation of the tradition of Arte P“Around the Globe” by Florian Borkenhagen at ammann//gallery
“Around the Globe,” a retrospective of Florian Borkenhagen, features works that have been created between 1994 and 2018. Curated by founder Gabrielle Ammann, the exhibition is on view through March 21, 2019. In continuation of the tradition of Arte Povera — the movement founded in Turin in the late 1960s — the Hamburg-based artist works with found materials and objects from his immediate surroundings in the Port of Hamburg and assembles these into works of art with utility character. According to the gallery, through a process of “artistic recycling,” Borkenhagen transforms the banal into an artwork, detonating a deeper meaning to everyday objects. He invites interaction and provides a new view on reality by reusing recognizable objects in conceptual and humorous ways. “Around the Globe” also reflects Borkenhagen’s fundamental philosophy. As stated in the gallery’s press release, “Like an explorer, Borkenhagen embarks on a creative journey, which in the current exhibition, revolves primarily around the theme of the globe.” As per the release, the globe occupies a central place in the works presented by the artist, whether it is the “Weltenbrüterstuhl” (“World Breeder Chair,” 2015), which is an old Horgen-Glarus chair with an illuminated globe embedded into the seat; or the “Weltentrager” (“World Carrier,” 2018), which is an illuminated glass globe from the 1950s encased in a wooden tool box representing a “Globe to Go.” Borkenhagen’s earliest works “E.G.O.Kosmos,” the cupboard object from 1994 is also on view. Borkenhagen conceived the piece for the eponymous group exhibition at the Museum der Künstlerkolonie Mathildenhohe in Darmstadt, Germany. Describing the significance of the antique cabinet, the release states, “The exhibition at Darmstadt was dedicated to the fictitious studio of Galileo Galilei. The antique register cabinet with a thermometer and a voltmeter is a tribute to the Italian physicist and universal scholar. A miniature globe in the glass cabinet of the piece is homage to Galileo’s discoveries and his contribution to turning away from the geocentric to the heliocentric world view, making him part of the Copernican revolution.” The release adds, “The ‘Liegeplatz’ (Moorage, 2010) sofa is a humorous reinterpretation of a handcart, which combines the two opposites of restful lounging with hand-driven mobility. With ‘Boccaporto’ (‘Hatchway,’ 2018), a mobile coffee table consisting of an antique ship’s hatch on wheels, this ensemble is rounded off. The nautical topic is carried on with the light-object ‘Faro’ (‘Lighthouse,’ 2016). The lighthouse’s beacon is one of mankind’s oldest means of communication. It is a symbol of safety and orientation. Made of a steel frame and hand-cut glass, ‘Faro’ points the way to a constantly changing world.” Two of Borkenhagen’s photographic works, ‘Contship’ (2017) and ‘Lucio’ (2017), make their debut at the exhibition. In continuation with the nautical topic represented through the other exhibits, these photographs depict details of the outer wall of an overseas shipping container in the Port of Hamburg. According to the gallery, Borkenhagen’s works try to capture the duality that reigns in the life of a modern man in the age of globalization with the convergence of people, culture, and religion: constant motion or change, but at the same time a search of anchorage. It is in this context that Borkenhagen conceived the sculpture project “Travel a Head “(initiated in 1998), in which, as described by the gallery, “the artist had a nearly four-meter-high sculpture of a head travel around the world on container ships between 1999 and 2000, as well as the ‘Babel Tower.’ The latter, a large-format outdoor sculpture which the gallery presented at Design Miami/Basel in 2010, is a modern reinterpretation of the biblical Tower of Babel.” Talking about Borkenhagen’s philosophy that guides his art, the gallery states, “Travel and mobility are Borkenhagen’s main themes; they form the starting point of his creative journey ‘around the globe.’” “Around the Globe,” is on view through March 21, 2019, at ammann//gallery, Teutoburger Str. 27, d-50678, Koln, Germany https://www.blouinartinfo.com/ Founder: Louise Blouin Read more