Papercuts Can Hurt, Too

About

exhibition: April 26th to June 7th 2009 opening: April 25th, 6 to 12 pm The janinebeangallery presents the first solo show of the German-Canadian artist Vanessa von Heydebreck. Vanessa von Heydebreck's work is characterised by the playful and cautious handling of her fine lines, as well as by straightforward and concise structures. Her works show shorter stories, like aphorisms of tragedies and of joy. The tender figures of her drawings seem so easy to grasp, only to leave the observer caught within the puzzling depth of the work's signals. The observer is confronted with a superficial naivety, which uses its simple structures to create a particular clarity and directness of form. In a strange rather than contradictory way, these structures result in transparent but also cryptic and complex metaphors. Von Heydebreck's metaphorical language is readable — and challenging - but it is not always resolvable. The works easily pull the observer in with their charm and connections: they capture you with their simultaneous meaningfulness and meaninglessness.