Mehdi Chouakri is hosting Martin Disler’s "Stadt und Schatten” at its Berlin venue.The exhibition features drawings, paintings, and terracotta works by the late Swiss artist Martin Disler (1949-1996). The artist's oeuvre discloses a riveting and ecstatic engagement with profoundly human notions of lust, love, excess, angst, mortality, and hope. "Stadt und Schatten” has a group of eight monochrome drawings created in 1993, during the period of time Disler spent in Vienna, where he focused primarily on writing the novel "Die Versuchung des Malers." Characterized by compulsion and ambiguity, his works resemble existential battlegrounds — buildings, body parts, shapes, and word sequences morph into a murky, chimera-like cityscape. His lettering alludes to advertising, but simultaneously reinforces a sense of disquiet, a lingering urgency. Writing is central to the work of Martin Disler: his novel "Bilder vom Maler" was published in 1980, and he produced various artist books with accompanying texts throughout his lifetime. From the mid-80s onward, sculpting became increasingly important for the artist — Disler’s sculptures reify his multiplex painting and drawing processes. Produced in 1993, the terracotta works in the current exhibition carry transcendental heads and faces with body parts growing into bewildering directions. Martin Disler’s charged painting technique bridges the line between figuration and abstraction. The artist is associated with Neo-expressionism and the 'Neue Wilden.’ A vigorous zest for life, as well as the omnipresence of death, characterizes this generation of artists who set in motion the postmodern reevaluation of convention. During his lifetime, Martin Disler exhibited extensively throughout Europe, USA, and Japan. In 1980, he took part in the Venice Biennale and in 1982 at documenta 7. Solo exhibitions at prominent institutions, such as Kunsthalle Basel, Folkwang Museum Essen, Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam, Musée d’arte Moderne de la Ville de Paris, Kunsthaus Zürich, and Museum Ludwig followed. The exhibition is on view through April 14, 2018 at Galerie Mehdi Chouakri, Invalidenstraße 117, Eingang / Entrance / Entrée Schlegelstraße 26, 10115 Berlin.For details, visit: http://www.blouinartinfo.com/galleryguide/mehdi-chouakri/overviewClick on the slideshow for a sneak peek at the exhibition. Founder Louise Blouin
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