Yves Scherer and Ophelia Finke
Crib
18 August – 17 September 2016
Honolulu is pleased to present “Crib”, a duo-exhibition by Ophelia Finke and Yves Scherer. Originally Crib stands for the shelter where Virgin Mary gave birth to Jesus. A box-shaped through covered with bars to hold fodder to assist in feeding livestock in cowsheds, fold yards and in fields, it’s the place where the Christmas story takes place and the lab of Christianity per se.
At the same time “Crib” has become at term in contemporary youth culture or Hip-Hop mainly which describes the home-base, or the place where people start their adventures from - and where they return to. It’s a place of pleasure and indulgence in the most private realm. For the exhibition at Honolulu, the artists now pull from both these reference to create a collaborative exhibition that features individual pieces of each artist as well. Entering the space the first thing you are confronted with is Balthazar, 2016, a motorbike turned sculpture by Ophelia Finke. Sprayed white and painted in blue camouflage it’s taking tuning to an extreme, where the vehicle has fully lost it’s functionality and become a mere aesthetic object. As if the life was blown out of the machine - Finke removes the battery and other functional parts - and only the shell remains which can be filled with new ideas. With it’s title and in the context of this show it also takes a play on the arrival of three kings to the crib, each of them bringing the most valuable and sought after goods of their country.
The center of the space builds a collaborative piece titled “Crib”, a cabin-ruin built out of wood and straw with hay inside. Playfully re-imagining the architectural construction described in the bible here the aesthetic is used as a theme or concept for a nightclub. Lights and baselines from the inside speak of an ongoing event. The ballade Partynogenese - a take on the biological term for an immaculate conception - tells the story of an aged man attending late night festivities. While deciding against taking the night-queen home, he finds himself giving birth to an idea the next day. On the other wall there is a bronze sculpture of two laying figures mounted to the wall. The interweaved pose depicted is taken from an image of the actor Johnny Depp and model/icon Kate Moss, him protecting and covering her naked body with his own. Taken by famous photographer Annie Leibowitz it shows the IT-couple of 90’s in one of few very private and intimate moments. Like in “Brangelina", where the couple has merged into a single entity or persona, they have served as a role model for their respective generation, helping us evaluate and measure our own relationships against these famous examples produced by the entertainment industry. Brightly illuminated and given it’s overall shape, it’s hard not to be reminded of a crucifix, the most famous depicting of Jesus hanging on the cross that you can find in any household. Like him who has given his life for us, the sculpture then could be read as the couple offering both blood and body to the public - for greater goods.
Yves Scherer (b. 1987 in Solothurn, CH) is based in New York City. He graduated from the Royal College of Art London in 2014 with an MA in Sculpture. Recent solo-exhibitions include: Snow White and the Huntsman, José Garcia, Mexico City; Honey Moon, Swiss Institute New York; Days at Sea, Carl Kostyal, London; Closer, Galerie Guido W. Baudach, Berlin and Coney Island, S.A.L.T.S., Basel. He has shown his work in group exhibtions internationally including the ICA London, Kunsthaus Baselland and Futura Prague.
Ophelia Finke was born in Germany; she lives and works between London and Berlin. Ophelia graduated from Central Saint Martins in 2014. Exhibitions of her work include Bloomberg New Contemporaries, ICA (London, UK, 2013) and Spike Island (Bristol, UK, 2013), Free Time (duo-show with Charlie Billingham) (Zuoz, Switzerland, 2014), Space Time, Hus Gallery, (London, UK, 2014), Studio Leigh (London, UK, 2015) and Scout (curated by Grear Patterson) (Alabama, USA, 2016).
Crib
18 August – 17 September 2016
Honolulu is pleased to present “Crib”, a duo-exhibition by Ophelia Finke and Yves Scherer. Originally Crib stands for the shelter where Virgin Mary gave birth to Jesus. A box-shaped through covered with bars to hold fodder to assist in feeding livestock in cowsheds, fold yards and in fields, it’s the place where the Christmas story takes place and the lab of Christianity per se.
At the same time “Crib” has become at term in contemporary youth culture or Hip-Hop mainly which describes the home-base, or the place where people start their adventures from - and where they return to. It’s a place of pleasure and indulgence in the most private realm. For the exhibition at Honolulu, the artists now pull from both these reference to create a collaborative exhibition that features individual pieces of each artist as well. Entering the space the first thing you are confronted with is Balthazar, 2016, a motorbike turned sculpture by Ophelia Finke. Sprayed white and painted in blue camouflage it’s taking tuning to an extreme, where the vehicle has fully lost it’s functionality and become a mere aesthetic object. As if the life was blown out of the machine - Finke removes the battery and other functional parts - and only the shell remains which can be filled with new ideas. With it’s title and in the context of this show it also takes a play on the arrival of three kings to the crib, each of them bringing the most valuable and sought after goods of their country.
The center of the space builds a collaborative piece titled “Crib”, a cabin-ruin built out of wood and straw with hay inside. Playfully re-imagining the architectural construction described in the bible here the aesthetic is used as a theme or concept for a nightclub. Lights and baselines from the inside speak of an ongoing event. The ballade Partynogenese - a take on the biological term for an immaculate conception - tells the story of an aged man attending late night festivities. While deciding against taking the night-queen home, he finds himself giving birth to an idea the next day. On the other wall there is a bronze sculpture of two laying figures mounted to the wall. The interweaved pose depicted is taken from an image of the actor Johnny Depp and model/icon Kate Moss, him protecting and covering her naked body with his own. Taken by famous photographer Annie Leibowitz it shows the IT-couple of 90’s in one of few very private and intimate moments. Like in “Brangelina", where the couple has merged into a single entity or persona, they have served as a role model for their respective generation, helping us evaluate and measure our own relationships against these famous examples produced by the entertainment industry. Brightly illuminated and given it’s overall shape, it’s hard not to be reminded of a crucifix, the most famous depicting of Jesus hanging on the cross that you can find in any household. Like him who has given his life for us, the sculpture then could be read as the couple offering both blood and body to the public - for greater goods.
Yves Scherer (b. 1987 in Solothurn, CH) is based in New York City. He graduated from the Royal College of Art London in 2014 with an MA in Sculpture. Recent solo-exhibitions include: Snow White and the Huntsman, José Garcia, Mexico City; Honey Moon, Swiss Institute New York; Days at Sea, Carl Kostyal, London; Closer, Galerie Guido W. Baudach, Berlin and Coney Island, S.A.L.T.S., Basel. He has shown his work in group exhibtions internationally including the ICA London, Kunsthaus Baselland and Futura Prague.
Ophelia Finke was born in Germany; she lives and works between London and Berlin. Ophelia graduated from Central Saint Martins in 2014. Exhibitions of her work include Bloomberg New Contemporaries, ICA (London, UK, 2013) and Spike Island (Bristol, UK, 2013), Free Time (duo-show with Charlie Billingham) (Zuoz, Switzerland, 2014), Space Time, Hus Gallery, (London, UK, 2014), Studio Leigh (London, UK, 2015) and Scout (curated by Grear Patterson) (Alabama, USA, 2016).
