HOLGER KALBERG THE FAMILY
MONTE CLARK GALLERY
MONTE CLARK GALLERY This catalogue was published in conjunction with the exhibition: Holger Kalberg THE FAMILY Monte Clark Gallery August 16 – September 12, 2014
Installation photos: David James / The Kreative Design: Monte Clark Gallery Front cover image: Holger Kalberg, installation view, THE FAMILY
Copyright Notice Images may not be reproduced, copied, transmitted or manupulated without written permission. All rights reserved. © Copyright 2014 Monte Clark Gallery
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Holger Kalberg was born in Germany and currently lives and works in Winnipeg, Manitoba. He graduated from Emily Carr University (BFA, 2001) and the Chelsea School of Art in London (MFA, 2007). Kalberg has been shortlisted for the RBC Painting Competition on three separate occasions, and served on the jury for the 2013 award. Kalberg has recently exhibited at the Vancouver Art Gallery, the University of Manitoba, the Belkin Satellite Gallery, and the Agnes Etherington Art Centre. His work is collected by the Royal Bank of Canada, the Vancouver Art Gallery, TD Bank, the Belkin Gallery, and numerous other public and private collections. Kalberg’s exhibition THE FAMILY explores the legacy of high Modernism and its related utopian models of thinking, presenting new paintings and sculptures that examine and critique modes of Modernist vocabulary. Kalberg describes his own relationship with Modernism as “conflicted appreciation,” often engaging with the aesthetics of the mode while at the same time critiquing the model. The works presented in this exhibition follow Kalberg’s desire for a renewed reflection of Modernist formalism through an investigation into the artist’s own studio practice, motivation, and early influences, especially Joseph Beuys and his socialist/utopian agenda. Both the painting and sculptural works in the exhibition possess a handmade quality, contrary to regular aesthetics of Modernist formalism. The work demonstrates a self-referential language through the use of fragmentation and collage, appropriating a Modernist vocabulary and mixing it with elements of craft and hobby aesthetics (which reflect Kalberg’s own process-oriented research and practice.) In Kalberg’s paintings (pseudo-portraits each depicting one individual that the artist calls “composite or alter-ego portraits”), he utilizes craft and low-grade materials which reference Modernist utopian ideologies in the ‘60s and ‘70s that promoted societal change through individual action.
The sculptural objects included in the exhibition operate as models or props for a Modernist formalism that has been disconnected from its ideological ideals and has turned into a clichéd stylistic expression. The artist says,
“The various pieces in the exhibition are assembled around a modular retail structure, which is motivated by Modernist design. The display structure acts as a platform or stage for the artworks to perform. The theatricality and starkness of the display sets up a dichotomy with the deliberately inexpensive materials used in the sculptural objects and paintings. All materials are readily available craft materials standing in for ‘proper sculptural’ materials. By creating a hybrid language of craft/design and commodity retail display, I set up a situation where the commodity art object that functions as the supplier for the audience’s desire for meaning, is at the same time resisting this very request. The objects on display are exposing a sense of ineffectiveness in their role as idolized art objects, due to the cheapness of materials and hand made characteristics of the sculptures and paintings. I am interested in creating works that could be described as being decorated with meaning by using easy-tomanipulate materials that seem to stand in for something other than what they are.”
Holger Kalberg Portrait 1, 2014 Oil and string on canvas 21 x 21 inches
Holger Kalberg Portrait 2, 2014 Oil on canvas 25 x 21 inches
Holger Kalberg Portrait 3, 2014 Oil on canvas 29.5 x 29.5 inches
Holger Kalberg Portrait 4, 2014 Oil and string on canvas 35 x 29 inches
Holger Kalberg Portrait 5, 2014 Oil on canvas 19.5 x 19.5 inches
Holger Kalberg Portrait 6, 2014 Oil and string on canvas 35 x 30 inches
Holger Kalberg Sculpture 1, 2014 Metal, rope 46 x 38 inches plus variable plinth
Holger Kalberg Sculpture 2, 2014 Basswood, tape, metal, string 116 x 60 x 60 inches
Holger Kalberg Sculpture 3, 2014 Tape, driftwood, wood, canvas, paint, string 10 x 14 x 18 inches plus variable plinth
Holger Kalberg Sculpture 4, 2014 Wood, driftwood, canvas, paint 18 x 18 x 27 inches plus variable plinth
Holger Kalberg Column, 2014 Rope, rubber, metal 192 x 28 x 28 inches (dimensions variable)