Sarah Buckner bei Ermes Ermes, Köln

Ausstellungstext:

Ermes - Ermes is pleased to announce an exhibition of Düsseldorf based artist Sarah Buckner. This will be Buckner's second solo show with the gallery.

In Sarah Buckner’s new exhibition chances are the mediumistic, the irrational, fabulous, invisible and the romantic come to life. Her paintings, resulting from an intensive creative phase during recent months, capture emotions and moods that are difficult to put into words.

Sarah Buckner’s figures and narratives cannot be assigned to a defined world. They seem to be in between, not quite real and yet not wholly imaginary. Determined by a sensitive, sometimes watercolour-like treatment of oil resin paints, her works are a combination of photographic notes on places and situations that undergo a transformation into fantastic spheres. Their ambiguity captivates the viewer.

An essential part of the exhibition is not only the examination of personal and societal attributions, hopes and abysses, but also of the world of literature, fantasy and fables. In the group of works inspired by Lewis Carroll’s Through the Looking-Glass, the connection to individuality and romanticism is evident. Scenes full of childlike naivety mix with real cruelty and threatening darkness. In Pleroma (2019) a blank, mirror-like book is opened. Carroll's Alice climbs through the mirror into another world, into the Behind, thus escaping reality. Books can open access to other worlds – but how can an empty book be read in which one reflects oneself? The play with the visible and the invisible, with illusion and disillusionment, is a paradox that Sarah Buckner addresses in her oeuvre, without pursuing the claim to enlightenment and uniqueness.

- Paulina Seyfried

Sarah Buckner (b.1984 Frankfurt am Main) lives and works in Düsseldorf. From 2009 to 2017 she studied with Peter Doig at the Kunstakademie Düsseldorf. Solo shows: (2018) Sarah Buckner, Edward Ressle, NY, (2015) Petto, L’ascensore, Palermo, IT, Paintings, Ermes-Ermes, Rome, IT Group Shows: (2018) Lia Pasqualino Noto / Casa Studio, curated by Geraldine Blais, Manifesta 12, Palermo, IT; Guanto, Institut für Bienenzucht, Cologne, DE; Hängung Total, Düsseldorf, DE; Salon des Amateures, Tramps, London, UK; 1001 Bild, Villa de Bank, Enschede, NL; (2017) Eggy and Seedy, Munchees, London, UK; (2016) Art Cologne, Adler, Düsseldorf, DE; (2015) Ort und Zeit, Kartell Kollektiv, Düsseldorf, DE; Molto l, Düsseldorf, DE; (2014) Tuesday Afternoon, Anna Klinkhammer Galerie, Düsseldorf, DE; Class Exhibition, Jordan Kantor, CCA, San Francisco, US; Klasse Doig, Display Gallery, London, UK; Beyond the Stage, Canongate Venture, Edinburgh, GB; (2013) Mondo, Düsseldorf, DE We would like to thank Michael Trier for sharing the space and his support.