Shifting Surfaces, 2024 : B. Knaus Fine Art

Opening: 15/02/2024, 7 p.m. with Harald Kröner, Iris Schomaker and Yang Jiechang

"Shifting Surfaces" presents contemporary works on and with paper. The group exhibition at Bernhard Knaus Fine Art contextualises new works by three artists: collages by Harald Kröner, paintings by Iris Schomaker and ink drawings by Yang Jiechang.

Light, thin, delicate - the medium paper is often associated with terms that only emphasise its fragility in one way. Yet it is worth taking a more complex look at works on and made of paper. As soon as one engages with the nature of such works with all senses, one begins to understand their complexity. This openness in the observation of art ultimately throws ones gaze back on oneself in the role of the observer. The question at the core of this exhibition is therefore: What can paper show?

Yang Jiechang works with ink on paper in various styles. The artist’s motifs stem from Chinese calligraphy, but are deconstructed in the process. Yang then finds unexpected forms of expression for dealing with ancient tradition. The drawings in Harald Kröner's Familienbande, presented for the first time, show their development in the form of overlapping layers of material and colour. They are deliberately grouped into small families as multi-part "narratives" in abstract space. Iris Schomaker's large-format landscapes on paper depict magical-realistic scenes. Familiar silhouettes flow together with carefully measured dreaminess and painterly precision giving them an air of mystery impossible to solve.

In the works of these three positions, light meets darkness and sharp edges meet delicate lines. Schomaker uses painterly means to create depth, while Yang lets drawn motifs overlap and Kröner works with actual three-dimensionality. The fascinating appeal of each individual work is based on the seeming fragility and the sensual quality of paper. "Shifting Surfaces" describes the dynamics that can emerge around the medium from the interplay of delicacy and strength, while at the same time questioning the nature of this opposition.

Harald Kröner (*1962 in Pforzheim) lives and works in Pforzheim. Kröner's work includes drawings and expansive installations. The artist's works are part of institutional collections in Germany and the USA.

Works by Iris Schomaker (*1973 in Stade) were on show at the Frankfurter Kunstverein in 2013. The artist lives and works in Berlin. Her "new figurative painting" (Dominic Eichler) was most recently shown at the Royal Academy of Arts in London.

Yang Jiechang (*1956 in Foshan) was trained in calligraphy and traditional Chinese painting. The artist lives and works in Paris and Heidelberg. His works have been exhibited at the Venice and Liverpool Biennales and the Guggenheim Museum in New York City, among others.

Exhibited works