Anton Kern Gallery is pleased to announce Ellen Gronemeyer’s third solo exhibition in NewYork. For DÉJÀ VU, the Berlin-based artist presents twelve new oil paintings and, for the firsttime, five small tables. Positioning the imaginary space of a painting alongside functionalobjects, the exhibition considers the act of looking, and the permeability of fantasy and reality.
Gronemeyer’s studio practice is led by her materials, and an unconscious process. Working onmany compositions simultaneously, the paint itself becomes a central protagonist. Each finishedwork is built up of many layers of oil paint, creating a friction between image and surface. Theartist’s bold color palette is tempered with black and white, bringing depth and luminosity.
Gronemeyer’s figures evoke precarity, whether depicted alone or in groups. Feelings of isolationand containment are sparked by the paintings’ cropping. In Single Bed, a woman stands aloneon a mattress in an otherwise abstract landscape; the mattress becomes like a life raft in a vastocean. One step forward, and she would be absorbed into the abyss.
Characters merge with their surroundings, shifting states of matter.