Curators notes 

Belonging to Platforms Project presentation

Text: Richard van der Aa

An international selection of artists in a presentation by invited curator Richard van der Aa of ParisCONCRET

At Platforms Project, Athens IS–projects presents
Joël Besse (fr)
Katrin Bremermann (de)
Pola Carmen (fr)
Richard Roth (us)
Shawn Stipling (uk)

These artists have  been selected for their shared sensibility rather than a common subject matter or specific theme.

That is to say - all exhibit a reductive aesthetic and a finely tuned sensitivity towards material, process and precise calibrations.  In general, the work is characterized by a limited colour range and uncluttered composition. A high level of craftsmanship is evident. These paintings are considered and carefully made. All of the artists are committed to making abstract painting and each, over an extended period of time has developed a very specific visual vocabulary.

The paintings are not windows into another space; they are objects which emphasize their own physicality. All operate in the indistinct position somewhere between object and image.  They invite contemplation: the long look.

These artists are serious in their intentions and the work is not to be taken lightly, although as evidenced in some of the titles, there is also a playful element at work. While there is a respect for history and an appreciation of that story being continued – a sense of working out of a tradition - there is also a feeling here that this is something fresh and perhaps something which doesn’t necessarily mesh with current trends in art. Alongside that there is also recognition of contemporary culture and how that plays into an artist’s practice. No artist works in a vacuum. Context, be it cultural, social, geographical or physical has a part to play in shaping the work.

While the aware artist acknowledges all these things in forming a unique vision, in the end, the work is the result of a hard won, prolonged and solitary effort in the studio. To produce something of genuine substance, it could be said: One must remain ‘In the world but not of it.’

Richard van der Aa – curators notes. May 2018

Athens Platforms Project, booth 22