- Venue
- Galerie REMISE
- Starts
- Wednesday, March 29, 2017
- Ends
- Sunday, April 9, 2017
- Address
- Beusselstrasse 2, Berlin
- Location
- Germany
- Organiser
- Alex Dewart - Galerie Remise
Press Release
I sit writing in my rental apartment in Scharnhorststrasse, backed by the Berlin -Spandau Ship canal, for many years the site of the Berlin Wall, dividing the city into East and West. Just north is a footbridge across the canal, joining what was East to West. In Derry, in my native Northern Ireland, another footbridge, the Peace Bridge brings the Bogside and the Waterside areas together, communities in conflict during the Troubles. In London the Millennium Bridge leads visitors from traditional London – St Pauls Cathedral- across the river to Tate Modern. It’s almost a physically embodiment of the aim of the German Expressionists movement, Die Brücke – ‘to symbolise the link or bridge to art of the future’.
Last year I was delighted to see so many British and Berlin artists make connections at the Ellipse Exhibition (curated by myself and Danny Rolph ) in Berlin. From this experience came the idea of creating an exhibition which would draw UK and Berlin artists together.
Shortly afterwards came the Brexit vote. With the possibility that UK artists become isolated from their European counterparts it feels more important than ever to ‘build bridges’.
16 artists have been invited to take part. From UK, Angelika Studios artists will make up most of the British invitees. From Berlin; artists from Remise Galerie and the Spandau Zitadelle, Haus 4 Atelier artists. Part 1 will take place in Berlin, Part 2 later in the year in London.
While bridge is always used in a positive context, drawbridge has more resonances. A drawbridge may provide protection but inevitably introduces the idea of threat.
It is often used as a metaphor for defence against a perceived danger.
The original title was simply Bridge, Brücke. Although it certainly virtuous to celebrate peace and harmony through Art, Art shouldn’t shirk to ask difficult questions in the face of dissent and conflict. And so the title became, Draw/Bridge, Zug/Brücke
What is a drawing?
– Something which is essential; preparatory; something in which thinking is inherent, a proposal; a modesty of materials; a trial; lines; tone; maybe colour; maybe not. The beginning of an idea which has yet to realise its full potential; a set of ideas laid out to be assessed; the extraction of the essential. While the original idea of a drawing may have been marks on a surface, sculpture, performance, animation can also be drawing. Consider these drawings in this light.
Alex Dewart,March 2017
