International quartet's new art chapter

Bluerider ART Shanghai has launched a group exhibition "Quartet," featuring four contemporary artists who explore the concept of metamorphosis by examining the transformation of time, space, and found objects through their unique forms of abstract art, creating a new chapter in the world of abstract art.

The exhibition presents the works of German artists Caro Jost, who specializes in street abstracts, and Philipp Donald Göbel, exploring destructive abstraction, with Spanish artist Beñat Olaberria, presenting improvisational abstraction, and Norwegian artist Kari Anne Helleberg Bahri, with her textile abstraction.

Jost is an artist based in Munich whose work is mainly focused on abstract expressionism. She is known for her "Street Prints" series, which involves transferring traces gathered from different streets onto canvases. Her artwork from this series has found permanent homes in renowned international art institutions such as the MoMALibrary Collection, Chelsea Art Museum, and Museum of the City of Munich.

This exhibition showcases Jost's latest work from the "Street Prints" series, featuring her capturing the imprints of wear and tear, footprints marked by time or events from streets in Munich and Berlin, and transforming them into abstract lines on canvas, creating a collective imprint that transcends both time and space.

Göbel is currently residing and creating art in Frankfurt, Germany. While he started his career producing mainly figurative work, he eventually realized that traditional painting was no longer sufficient to express his ideas effectively.

To develop his unique approach, he began deconstructing and recomposing older artwork, creating entirely new and unconventional art forms. The art piece he exhibits, Untitled, showcases shapes breaking free from their frames, symbolizing transformation and change, reminiscent of a butterfly emerging from its cocoon. This shift reflects a new aesthetic state that pushes art in a new direction.

Olaberria is a Spanish artist based in London. His artwork is notable for its non-impressionistic, non-narrative, and non-reductive qualities. Specifically, he explores form, composition, rhythm, and balance in ways that are inventive and unexpected. Olaberria describes his creative process as a journey into the unknown – much like taking a walk where the final destination is uncertain.

His artwork features pencil lines and heavy acrylic pigments that present an incomplete and uncertain aspect through abstract compositions. Unlike many other artists, Olaberria deliberately avoids preconceived notions or interpretations of his work, allowing for a more personalized and subjective experience. This means that viewers are free to fill in the gaps left by the artist using their own past experiences and ideas. In this way, Olaberria creates multiple ways of understanding his work.

The materials he uses are also diverse, including pencil, acrylic paint, clay, and charcoal. Each medium adds layers to the works, contributing to their open-ended nature. The Shanghai exhibition showcases Olaberria's latest works from 2023, providing viewers with the opportunity to explore new pieces of art that invite them to interpret, observe, and engage with them.

Bahri is a Norwegian artist who explores contemporary societal themes through textile art that departs from the typical Norwegian minimalism. Her work focuses on themes of limitations, expectations, order, and isolation and is characterized by neutral colors.

Bahri's textiles are constructed using old woven fabrics that carry the traces of shared experiences and the cumulative effects of time. She uses handmade stitching to explore the details of the fibers and draws on natural materials such as cotton, linen, and wool to create her textile pieces.

Through her work, Bahri seeks to liberate the body from constraints and create unique life stories. The exhibition features several works, including a large collective installation titled "Garment Bags." This installation comprises 80 repurposed garment bags on old hangers, each manually processed, reinterpreted, and reconstructed from discarded, flawed, decaying, and imperfect items.

"Garment Bags" prompts viewers to break free from self-imposed circles and reflect objectively on memory and experience. Bahri's textile art encourages us to consider the ways in which we are interconnected and the lasting impact of our shared experiences over time.

Date: December 9-February 17, 2024

Address: 133 Sichuan Rd M. 四川中路133号