With SELECTED POEMS, the G2 Kunsthalle presents Martin Groß’s first institutional solo exhibition in Leipzig. The artist, who studied in London and Leipzig, reflects in his works the ambivalent identity of the present, shaped by digitalisation, in multimedia forms of expression. In addition to numerous works on paper, Groß is showing a space-specific typographic installation and an auditory work made for the G2 Kunsthalle.
Image above: Martin Groß, La La La Lost, Lost In The Sky, 2022, Ölkreide auf Papier, 84 x 70 cm, Foto: dotgain. info
Recurring motifs in Groß’s works, alongside pop cultural themes and art historical references, are the data and information structures of the internet, as well as social media, blogs and news portals, as predominant, participatory and anonymised venues for socio-political events of the 21st century.
Groß uses contemporary digital visual vocabulary from memes, emojis, icons or user interfaces and transfers them into the analogue world.
The works on paper, which formally oscillate between painting, drawing and print, bundle information as a simultaneous preservation of events on the picture surface.
The daily flow of information that affects us and is increasing exponentially through the developments of digitalisation is woven into impenetrable textures and complex networks in Groß’s works through skilful layering of layers of written elements, shapes, silhouettes and figurations.
Depending on the individual biography, individual elements are perceived more prominently than others. The works thus activate perceptual strategies that are intended by social media and applied to the analogue object at large.
Groß skilfully contrasts the multi-layered, cluttered picture surfaces with the wall-filling installation Immer is was. The concrete typographic lettering, which runs across three walls of the first room of the G2 Kunsthalle, confronts the viewer with an inflationary phrase of collective language use, exponentiates it and thus skilfully rhythms the spaces of the G2. Groß reflects both the relationship of the viewing subject to the spaces and his use of language.
The wall-related sound work, which dominates the second room of the G2 Kunsthalle and permeates the entire floor, addresses various sound pieces from functional funnel loudspeakers to the viewers. The texts set to music, which occupy the rooms of the G2 arbitrarily and without context, repeatedly take up themes of our present. Groß, for example, gives Daft Punk’s iconic technolgic lyrics a dark update that communicates dictatorial orders like a contemporary mantra, dealing with anonymised hatred and the addiction to digital incentives on the internet.
WHEN?
Vernissage: Thursday, 29 September 18-21 h
Exhibition dates: Friday, 30 September 2022- Sunday 15 January 2023
COSTS?
5/3* Euro
WHERE?
G2 Kunsthalle
Dittrichring 13
04109 Leipzig
