Art Düsseldorf 2019

Axel Vervoordt Gallery’s presentation at Art Düsseldorf 2019 includes the works of artists: Bae Bien-U, Otto Boll, Lucia Bru, Peter Buggenhout, Renato Nicolodi, Jaromír Novotný, Bosco Sodi, Marco Tirelli, and Angel Vergara.

The stand explores the possibilities and limits of matter and technique, whereby the choice of material determines the perception of the work. The artists delve into the power of dynamism and movement, embodied in the achromatic colours white and black. This movement takes place through nature — as reflected in Bosco Sodi's process and choice of materials and in the dynamism of the landscapes photographed by Bae Bien-U — and through human action, of which Angel Vergara's work is a trace. Otto Boll and Marco Tirelli achieve optical effects in their work, with attention to proportions and a balance that also characterises the work of Renato Nicolodi and Lucia Bru.

In detail, Bosco Sodi creates his work with mixed raw, natural materials and vivid pigments; for Angel Vergara the charcoal was essential for the performance that preceded this work; Otto Boll marks the fragility of the work with white chalk on the black background. Jaromír Novotný constructs his works from the material itself, in which he paints on canvases hanging freely on the wall without stretchers, in which the choice of textile plays a large part in his search for the possibilities of black and white. In Novotný’s words: "black as the foundation, white as the lightest shade of black."

Peter Buggenhout’s work appears as an outlier in this setting, standing on a circular pedestal that invites the viewer to approach the work from all sides — whereby the work will occur differently from every angle. Buggenhout’s organic sculpture, Mont Ventoux #26, contrasts with other works on the stand due to its bright colours — yet the series is mainly about "cavities and voids, outer edges and backs". Although the sculpture is the result of dilapidated material, it appears to be charged with an internal and introvert colour and light that makes its way to the surface.