Galvin Harrison's "BLOSSOM" sculptures in Copenhagen

                              CURRENT EXHIBITION

                       GALVIN HARRISON

                                        "BLOSSOM"

                              SCULPTURES

                                 GALLERI WEINBERGER

                              COPENHAGEN / DENMARK

                               11th MAY/ 16th JUNE 2012

The air feels chilly and blue and there is a slight hint that the sun will grace the graveyard with a teasing of warmth that will encourage  jaded winter souls to direct their eyes to the heavens and be washed with a depth of gratitude that a long dark nordic winter has reached it's end and and the sight and smell of Spring blossom is in the air once again.

The attempt to describe a series or a piece of sculpture could just as well start with the above. A sort of a `laying of the table´. A descriptive romantic `entrée´ sets the scene that directs the viewer to a precise location at a precise period of the year. The human element is an artist. He has a specific reason for being in what could only be termed as one of the worlds most beautiful graveyards, and that is to find a peaceful oasis in the midst of the orchestrated chaos of a large city where he can push the pram in which lies his new baby son that needs to be encouraged to sleep.

It is the beginning of Spring 2010. The artist is Galvin Harrison. `Assistens Kirkegård ´is the name of the graveyard where on an almost daily basis he re-enacts the paternal ritual of pushing a pram in which lies his sleeping son, Pavlos. The graveyard of his choice is located in Copenhagen, it is located close to the arab quarter of the city and therein lies the notable corpses of Hans Christian Andersen, Søren Kirkegaard and Niels Bohr to name but a few. The pathways are numerous and yet have a relaxed meandering feel to them. It is the beginning of spring so the sprouting of crocus is abundant and significant by merit of their colors. The graveyard is a thoroughfare, not a major one but a short cut that is used by cyclists and pedestrians that by necessity or force of habit experience a brief interlude of pleasure, visual stimulation and a dose of nature's perfume as they pass through the refuge of the deceased.

We are at the location that configures in an ongoing seminal work in progress, namely, `Graveyard´ an installation that gets larger as the artist gets older. The work will probably become a tombstone in its own right. A legacy to a life that like so many of us gone before and those still yet to come, use the talents on hand to contemplate the issues between the living and the dying. And you just have to remark on the irony, of the pushing of a pram with the new living, among the freshly dug graves of the new dying. And the further irony of the containers filled with the compost of rotten dead leaves that stand in the close proximity of aged trees that are sprouting new leaves and are preening with fresh blossom at every caress from a new Springs ray of sunshine. It is to these aged trees that posture in the sunlight of Spring that we can give credit for igniting the spark of ideas and inspiration that initiated the series of sculptures by Galvin Harrison that we now know as the "Blossom" sculptures.

VIVIAN BERG has be selected to participate in the forthcoming exhibition NordArt

NordArt
North Germany’s window to the art world

Some people may find north Germany bleak, but its beauty is undeniable. Few exhibition spaces express its unique atmosphere so eloquently as the Carlshütte, a former iron foundry operated by the first manufacturing company in the dukedoms of Schleswig and Holstein. Opened in 1827 and closed in 1997, this site in the town of Büdelsdorf is an impressive industrial monument. Today, its huge halls, restored historic buildings and expanses of parkland provide an unusual setting for a wide variety of cultural events. 
  

The Kunstwerk Carlshütte arts forum is a joint initiative of the ACO Group and the towns of Büdelsdorf and Rendsburg. Its 22,000 square metres of factory space and 80,000 square metres of parkland are used for concerts, lectures, plays, films and, most importantly, art exhibitions. These reach their height each summer with the NordArt, an annual exhibition of contemporary painting, photography, video, sculpture and installations by more than 200 artists from all over the world, all combined into a single gigantic artwork. The event attracts tens of thousands of visitors each year.

NordArt 2012   02.JUNE - 30. SEPTEMBER 2012.

Forthcoming exhibition: KRESTEN HAVGAARD

Forthcoming exhibition: KRESTEN HAVGAARD

                                      Galerie Møller Witt

                                      Aarhus/Denmark

               

                                      30th March / 28th April 2012



The Danish artist Kresten Havgaard who is  represented by Sturiale Contemporary Arts will be exhibiting new paintings in a solo show at Galerie Møller Witt in Denmark.

As far as painting style is concerned, Kresten Havgaard works within the boundaries of the abstract picture language. He is in possession of a describable painterly sensibility that allows him to create paintings that have a very intense expression, a vibrant color sense and a `no nonsense´ clarity of composition.

A.QUBAISI / STURIALE PROJECTS in UAE

A unique joint venture has evolved between the leading UAE jewellery maker Azza Al-Qubaisi and Paolo Sturiale from Sturiale Contemporary Arts, Italy.

There have been lengthy discussions as to how the talents of Azza Al-Qubaisi and her thriving business could merge with the ambitions of Sturiale Contemporary Arts to establish the concept of a joint project that could enhance both parties in their desire to establish a cultural hub. A hub that would provide a fresh perspective into the creative process and a further insight into the possibilities that arise when two such prominent cultural figures find the manner and means to satisfy their mutual respect and admiration for each others activities and establish a third party joint venture. The joint venture will be based in Abu Dhabi and will be known as: 

The venture will start at the end of April with an opening exhibition by the British born artist Galvin Harrison. The exhibition is titled,  "Stack" original works on paper. Galvin Harrison has been represented by Sturiale Contemporary Arts since it was first established and is a mid career artist with an established reputation. The exhibition that is being curated at A.Qubaisi/Sturiale Projects is a forerunner to an ongoing project that has been initiated by Azza Al-Qubaisi in her capacity as a jewelry designer and Galvin Harrison as a fine artist. A working collaboration has been established to create an innovative form of jewelry that utilizes both their respective unique talents. The results of which is a working partnership that will launch the jewelry concept  "Sculptures to Wear" of which the official launch date is scheduled in December 2012.

Galvin Harrison 

"Stack" work on paper, 2008

Courtesy: A.Qubaisi/Sturiale Projects

ADAM JEPPESEN at The National Museum of Photography

ADAM JEPPESEN 

"The Flatlands Camp Project"

 

 The National Museum of Photography

 Copenhagen - Denmark

 February 10th - April 28th 2012

Adam Jeppesen who is participating in the current exhibition Sturiale Paper Project 2 will open a solo exhibition at the National Museum of Photography in Copenhagen.

 

"In the middle of 2009 Adam Jeppesen began a period of uninterrupted, unaccompanied travel that lasted for 487 days. He traveled on a continuous grade, in one direction, constantly, on the ground, from the Arctic to Antarctica through the Americas.
  
During this period, the artist grew distant from the validation of other people and the convenient markers of cultured society. The long, solitary trip took him progressively further from a traditional understanding of space and time. Only his photographs, he says, became a means of “guaranteeing a present.” From day to day, the camera received the artist’s experiences and confirmed them to him.
 
Jeppesen has become known, over the past decade, for a body of work that is both meticulously edited and nakedly diaristic. The artist’s distinctive style, which crystallized in his first major monograph, Wake (Steidl, 2008), located a space in between documentary and dream.
 
Nostalgia remains important to Jeppesen, and many aesthetic decisions are still made by remembering, projecting and dreaming. The works emerging from his most recent travels, however, are primarily concerned with direct, immediate responses. This need for straight confirmation was borne of human necessity as the artist burrowed deeper than ever before into a dreamlike state.
 
Some of the pictures are far from pristine. Grit jiggling in a box has gnawed the surface of certain negatives, leaving scuffs of evidence on the final prints that speak to the extended physical journey that the work shared with the artist. The occasional occurrences that most photographers will trash, such as light leaks and odd exposures, are allowed to live. Certain shots flirt with total abstraction. At the printing end of the process, Jeppesen is experimenting with unconventional, offhand and ephemeral techniques. The artist is keen to question the authority of the print, the end result, the expected conclusion of the photographic act.
 
Because what is an end result? These works appear to ask what an image is worth, what a moment is worth, and what a memory is worth. What were these experiences? Jeppesen fastidiously avoids the fetishized travel narrative. Location and context are irrelevant. So what was important about these experiences? What is most relevant for this particular body of work, it seems, is the very act of experiencing something. “The Flatlands Camp Project,” which will evolve dramatically over the course of the next year, aspires to become an experience of its own."