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Grey
Martin Erik Andersen / Chris Bradley / Jesse Darling / Keith Karquhar / Anders Holen / Daniel Keller / Yves Scherer
curated by Domenico de Chirico
14 JANUARY | 20 FEBRUARY 2016
Opening January 14, 2016 | 7-9 pm
Grey is a very common colour in nature. The human eye can recognize the same object as grey or as any other colour depending on how much light there is. The eye can distinguish 16 levels of grey. Grey is a complementary colour.
The grey colour in painting has been experimented and theorized for centuries. The Classic conception considers grey as an “off-white”. It can be obtained adding black to white. However, there are other methods to obtain grey: for example combining the three primary colours (blue, yellow, red). In this case grey is called “neutral grey”. Differently from black, this special colour allows to simulate more naturally the shadows. Another way to create grey consists in mixing the primary colours for printing: cyan, magenta yellow.
This colour defines a relationship between the sensible and the super sensible. As Hegel wrote in his essay Encyclopaedia of the Philosophical Sciences1: «the symbol expresses both more and less than its intended meaning.»
“Grey matter” contains most of the brain’s neuronal cell bodies and for this reason grey colour is referred to the intellectual sphere.
Moreover, it represents an attitude characterized by objectivity and balance because grey is a colour which includes white and black: good and evil.
David Batchelor wrote in Chromofobia2: «For this colour - intense, heightened, pure, unqualified - offered a glimpse of the `Other World’, a world beyond Nature and the Law, a world undimmed by language, concepts, meanings and uses.»
He noted that «Dorothy’s Kansas, as we know, is grey.»
Domenico de Chirico
1 G.W.F. Hegel, excerpt from Encyclopaedia of the Philosophical Sciences, 1830
2 David Batchelor, excerpt from Chromophobia, London: Reaktion, 2000
Martin Erik Andersen
(1964, Copenhagen, Denmark) lives and works in Copenhagen, Denmark
He has recently presented solo exhibitions at Horsens Kunstmuseum (Horsens, DK), Gl. Holtegaard (Holte, DK) and Croy Nielsen (Berlin, DE). Recent exhibitions also include “Det stille liv – illusion og virkelighed” at Holstebro Kunstmuseum (Holstebro, DK) and “FORÅRSUDSTILLINGEN” at Den Frie Centre of Contemporary (Copenhagen, DK).
Chris Bradley
(1982, Denville, New York) lives and works in Chicago, Illinois.
He graduated with an MFA from the Art Institute of Chicago. He has recently presented solo exhibitions at Roberto Paradise (San Juan) and at Contemporary Art Museum (Raleigh). His works has been exhibited at Shane Campbell Gallery (Chicago), at Contemporary Art Museum of Santa Barbara (CA) and at Atlanta Contemporary Art Center (GA). In 2017 he’ll have a solo show at the Museum of Contemporary art of Chicago.
Jesse Darling
(1988, Melbourne, Australia) lives and works in London, UK.
Selected solo exhibitions include: a solo show scheduled in 2016 at Arcadia Missa, London, UK; “NTGNE “, Serpentine Pavillion, London, UK (2015). Group shows include: “Alive for an Instant” , Galleria Stereo, Warsaw; “The Shadow of the Dome of Pleasure”, Newton, New Zealand and “Überschönheit”, Salzburger Kunstverein, Austria.
Keith Farquhar
(1969, Edinburgh, Scotland) lives and works in Edinburgh, Scotland.
Selected solo exhibitions include: Office Braroque (Bruxelles) and Piper Keys (London). Group shows include: “Mirror Effect” at The Box (Los Angeles), “Panda Sex” at State of Concept (Athen) and “Let’s Destroy the Earth but Keep Humans” at Gregor Staiger (Zurich).
Anders Holen
(1986, Skien, Norway) lives and works in Berlin, Germany.
He has recently presented solo exhibitions at Lynx (Oslo), at Helper Projects (New York) and at Grunerløkka Kunsthall (Oslo) . His works as been exhibited in group exhibitions at Contemporary Art Center Vilnius (Vinius, LT), presso la Kunsthall Oslo e presso Malmø Konsthall (Malmø, SE).
Daniel Keller
(1986, Detroit, Michigan) lives and works in Berlin, Germany.
He has scheduled a solo show at Auditorium Parco Della Musica (Rome) in 2016. Recent group shows: “Aujourd’hui je dis oui”, Galeria da Boavista (Lisbon); “Emotional Supply Chains”, Zabludowicz Collection (London) and “Hacking Habitat” (New York).
Yves Scherer
(1987, Solothurn, Switzerland) lives and works in New York and Berlin.
Recent solo shows: Honey Moon, Swiss Institute, New York, NY;
Group shows include: Art Parcours, Art Basel, Basel, CH; “Nimm‘s mal Easy”, Ausstellungsraum Klingental, Basel CH; “Cookie Gate”, Ellis King, Dublin, IR; “Last Night”, Parallel Oaxaca, Mexico City, MX;
