"Contemporary Visions (2019)" - Beers London Gallery Exhibition

"Contemporary Visions (2019)"

Beers London Gallery Annual Exhibition

Overall this exhibition was fresh and exciting to experience. It felt as though Beers wanted to feature a varied range of work intended to showcase artists who seek to explore current topics, trends and innovation in contemporary art. There were many different types of media and disciplines here, making for a well rounded experience. The theme of work seemed to challenge ideas behind "what is contemporary art" in todays day and age. Alongside painting, there were works of art which included sculpture, textile, graphics, video, and mixed media.

Andreea Anghel

Andreea Anghel's work immediately stuck out to me (pictured below). Anghel manipulates photos, and paints and draws on various surfaces with mixed medias. Her work explored space through the use of geometric shapes, line work, and color. I love the way the shapes she created interact with one another, they appear to almost be moving and floating around each other while simultaneously colliding and overlapping. I will definitely be looking into her work further. There appear to be elements of abstraction and figuration interacting with one another.

Julius Hofmann

Julius Hofmann's work was another standout for me (pictured below). His mixed media works on paper had a clearly defined narrative element to them, almost fairytale-like which was very exciting. I found them to be humorous as well as sometimes morbid. This in further emphasized by his muted use of color and cool tones. The paintings themselves had a graphic influence and feel to them. Lots of use of acrylic paint. Some of the figures in his paintings are reminiscent of old-school claymation. His paintings convey themes of fear and mystery. I intend to look further into his work as well.

Vojtech Kovarik

Vojtech Kovarik's piece I thought went along with Julius Hofmann's work well. In these particular pieces (below), I like his use of color and movement. His paintings are often inspired by wrestlers and mythological creatures and like Hofman's work,  harbor a fairytale-like quality to them as well. His work in a way is both comical and sinister, featuring fearful monster-like or ghoulish figures alongside deceptively cheerful colors, taking on animation-like qualities.

Nico Krijno

Nico Krijno's work features photography, image manipulation, collage, and mixed media. I found his work to be energetic and chaotic in nature, offering a mishmash of color and texture (pictured below). What I found interesting about his work is his process. Krijno is fascinated by the flatness created by the camera. What looks like collage, is actually built in actually as sculptural work of mixed scraps and materials put together and photographed and then digitally manipulated, eventually presented as prints. I think this is a unique approach to creating art and I will reference his work when creating my own 3D pieces which I intend to photograph.

Vincent Matte

Vincent Matte's work i found interesting and compelling in its purity and rich use of color and simplified shapes. The images appear quite stark and strange, imploring its viewer to look harder in trying to work out the meaning behind the work. The first of the works shown below is my favorite because I think the colors here are fantastic, and the simple shapes compositionally engage with one another harmoniously, despite the more jarring and unsettling imagery.