ABOUT 90 ELEMENTS / TOD IM DSCHUNGEL

Camden Arts Centre
Artist(s): Thomas Scheibitz
Curator(s): Rachael Thomas
Dates: 22 February – 20 April 2008

Camden Arts Centre presents a new exhibition by Thomas Scheibitz including paintings, sculptures and large works on paper. German artist Scheibitz received international acclaim at the Venice Biennale in 2005. Using geometric shapes and symbols taken from personal memory and the media, he creates a vision of a future fast-paced consumer society.

Scheibitz’s sculptures have been compared to 3D canvases, he transforms the geometric planes of the paintings into life-size objects. The positioning of works in the exhibition highlights the influence that both forms have on each other. He combines flat areas of colour and expressive brush strokes, leaving clear traces of his hand so that the viewer returns to the surface.

Exploring the boundary between figurative representation and abstraction, Scheibitz builds up compositions from a kaleidoscope of visual references. Described as a cultural scavenger, he collects scraps of images from both high and low culture: Renaissance paintings; contemporary cartoons; advertising; film stills, as well as images of architecture and graphic design.

"His sculptures and paintings as well as his photographs all possess, like Ballard's* description of Eden-Olympia, this sense of a well-ordered environment that is haunted by something unpredictable and menacing. Scheibitz explores both the malady and euphoria of contemporary culture," Rachael Thomas, Curator, Irish Museum of Modern Art

The title of the exhibition, About 90 elements / TOD IM DSCHUNGEL* can be read in two parts, 90 elements is the name of a painting in the exhibition as well as referring to the 19th-century periodic table. The second part TOD IM DSCHUNGEL means ‘Death in the Jungle’ in English and relates to both the urban and the wild jungle. This is also the title of a publication produced by Scheibitz to coincide with the exhibition.

The exhibition has been organised by Camden Arts Centre, London and the Irish Museum of Modern Art, Dublin.

Sponsor(s) : Arts Council England, Camden Council and the Clore Duffield Foundation / Supported by Bloomberg, IFA and the Goethe Institute, London

Thomas Scheibitz was born in Radeberg, Germany in 1968. He studied at the HfBK Dresden and currently lives and works in Berlin. He has had recent solo exhibitions at Produzentengalerie Hamburg, Tanya Bonakdar Gallery, New York and Gallerie Sprüth Magers, Köln. He represented Germany as part of the 51st Venice Biennale and was included in the Bienal de Sao Paulo in 2005.

* J.G. Ballard, Super-Cannes (London et al: Flamingo, 2001)

Contact:
Camden Arts Centre
Arkwright Road
London
NW3 6DG
www.camdenartscentre.org
T: +44 (0)20 7472 5500
F: +44 (0)20 7472 5501

Opening times: Tuesday - Sunday: 10am-6pm; Wednesdays late 10am–9pm
Nearest Tube Stations: Finchley Road/Hampstead

Image Credits: 90 Elements, 2007; Courtesy the artist