Mario Airo & Christiane Löhr
April 20 – July 2, 2016
Brussels
Bernier/Eliades Gallery, in collaboration with Tucci Russo Gallery, is pleased to present an exhibition in its new space in Brussels. The exhibition, which opens on Wednesday 20 April from 18:00 to 21:00, will feature a selection of sculptures and works on paper from the Italian artist Mario Airò and the German artist Christiane Löhr.
Mario Airò creates his works in relation to multiple cultural references such as cinema, history of art, literature, that are poetically reinterpreted through every day objects and situations. For instance, in Momento perfetto two wedding rings are linked together and hung from copper wires. These wires are sculpted exactly as if the flexible material was subject to transform into something more personal and intimate from each touch of the artist’s hand, analogous to what the artist’s pencil would do with a drawing on paper. In Airò’s works the fundamental element of traditional drawing, the paper, is transformed from a simple canvas into the very material of the image: in Grattage the medium is treated as a bas-relief reacting to light.
For her sculptural work, Christiane Löhr is following the construction rules of her material – parts of plants as well as animal hair. The sculptures of mostly small size are remembering architecture. Appropriation of space is the connection between the three- and two-dimensional work. As the sculptures are creating concentrated settings in space, the abstract lines of the drawings explore the empty space of the paper and seem to move beyond the sheet of paper.
Mario Airò has taken part in numerous exhibitions in museums and institutions in Italy and abroad including: Venice Biennale (1997 and 2005); Gwangju Biennale, Gwangju (1995 and 2004); Rome Quadrennial (1996, 2005 and 2008); S.M.A.K. Stedelijk Museum voor Actuele Kunst, Ghent; KunsthalleLophem, Loppem-Zedelgem; MAXXI, Rome; Palazzo Reale, Milan; Peep Hole, Milan; GaMeC, Bergamo; Palazzo delle Esposizioni, Rome; Galleria Nazionale d’Arte Moderna, Rome.
Christiane Löhr lives in Cologne, Germany and Prato, Italy. She earned her Master’s degree under Jannis Kounellis at the Kunstakademie Düsseldorf and has become known internationally through her participation in various exhibitions including the 49th Venice Biennale in 2001, as well as her exhibition at the Villa e Collezione Panza in Varese. Christiane Löhr will be exhibited with Jonathan Monk and Jan van der Ploeg at the Kunsthaus Baselland from May 27th to July 17, 2016.