I like what I see and how it makes me feel

About

“An imaginative experience,” is “what happens when varied materials of sense quality, emotion, and meaning come together in a union that marks a new birth in the world”. John Dewey, Art as Experience

Knut Henrik Henriksen plays with formats found in mass produced materials including the ISO system, industrial building materi- als and the design of cars and architectural sites. Identifying the motivation for a given format, Henriksen takes its logic, twisting, turning and poking at it to reveal its vulnerability and doubt. Included in the exhibition are a number of painted wooden reliefs that originate in Dr Porstmann’s ISO paper formatting system. “Standardisations strive for simplicity. The A series of paper formats, for example, is most obviously based on dividing a sheet of paper in two using horizontal and vertical lines.... Henriksen wanted to explore what would happen if one focused instead on the diagonals.” (Architectural Doubts, Knut Henrik Henriksen). A play with this simple rule gives rise to infinite possibilities and actions.

Alejandra Hernández makes paintings and drawings influenced by daily life, music, art history, cinema and mythology. The result is often a combination of images and symbols that play between reality and fantasy, capturing moments where ambiguity is pre- sent.The works on paper selected for the show here are composed of female figures that are inter-connected by lines of balanc- ing stones and twine. The images are both cartoon-like and visceral, working towards a space that alludes to shared moments and the in-between. Works on paper are important to Hernandez, quick and easy they are able to capture the energy of ideas.

Lubaina Himid’s paintings appear across a myriad of surfaces. Any surface can generate significance; from cut out board, ceram- ics, found wooden vessels to fine art paper and canvas, all have value and all speak of their conditions of production. Himid’s carts are made out of found objects such as old wooden carts, drawers and skateboards. These have been embellished with col- ourful patterns, animal and insects in larger than life form. The carts articulate ideas around exchange, circulation and migra- tion, operating perhaps as an allegory of the movement of non-indigenous species through commercial routes. They could also be seen to bring to light questions of representation and identity. Himid’s approach navigates between story telling and conver- sation as well as reaction and contemplation.

Reto Pulfer is interested in the impermanence of things, the interconnection and transition between different states of being. Materials that reoccur in his works are: bed sheets, recycled clothes, ceramics, sand, twigs, spices, moss, food and tea. The materials either carry an inherent potential of transformation within them, clay only takes on a fixed form after being burnt in the oven, - or are transformed by the artist in the act of making. Reto’s textile pieces on show are made from various recycled fabrics that have been died, cut apart and stitched together in new formations. A small tent has been installed using ribbons stitched onto the fabric of the abode. The number of ribbons allow for the tent to be put up in many different situations, suggesting a potential of continuous re-settling.

Knut Henrik Henriksen is a Berlin based artist who’s monograph Architectural Doubts, featuring essays by Lars Bang Larson and Amy Sherlock, has just been published by Koenig books. Notable exhibitions include Echoes and Notes to Stones, Bergen Kun- sthall and Bergen City Hall, Norway and Villa Savoye redrawn with an OpelAstra 2006 and other works from now and then, Opelvillen, Rüsselsheim, Germany. Alejandra Hernandez lives and works in Gent, Belgium where she is currently undertaking a postgraduate programme at HISK. Recent solo exhibitions include Fantastic Whereabouts, De Queeste Gallery, Abele, Belgium, Keep my treasures where I can see them, Galleria LaVeronica, Modica, Italy and Tesoro encontrado, KB Espacio para la cultura, Bogotá, Colombia. Lubaina Himid is currently in The 1980s today’s beginnings? Van Abbemuseum, Eindhoven. Recent exhibitions include Burning Down the House - Gwangju Biennale and Keywords, Tate Liverpool. Himid has forthcoming projects with Hospitalfield, Arbroath and Bookworks amongst others. Reto Pulfer’s recent solo exhibitions include Um Estado Árido, Fórum Eugénio de Almeida, Évora, Portugal,Die Loci Der Ortie, Centre international d’art et du paysage, Île de Vassivière, France, Gewässerzeiten, Spike Island, Bristol, Les chambres des états, Musée régional d’art contemporain Languedoc-Roussillon, Sérignan, France andDehydrierte Landschaft, Centre d’art contemporain Genève, Switzerland. He is nominated to the 2016 Swiss Art Awards.