Works of light in Thessaloniki
The visual dimension of architectural perception is the theme that links the works of two very different German artists currently on display at the Macedonian Museum of Contemporary Art in the northern port city of Thessaloniki.
In ?Elements II,? the two artists, Madeleine Dietz and Annette Sauermann, have developed a series of works evolving around the use of basic ingredients of modern and contemporary sculpture.
In the show, colors, light, steel, cement, plexiglass and paper are all combined in an effort to reflect the notion of life and death, as well as the idea of light?s energizing power.
?I was interested in exploring the idea of existence after death. I traveled to a number of places and ended up in the desert. There I came across drought, which symbolized death, but also flowers coming out of the sand, which pointed to life. Life and death go hand in hand,? said Dietz, whose artworks are based on two principal raw materials: organic earth and industrial steel, a combination of the primitive and the contemporary.
Taking the form of mud bricks, the earth?s texture is contrasted with that of steel.
?The entire process of the works? construction is a reference to man?s relationship with nature,? Dietz added.
Meanwhile, Sauermann?s works, which the artist calls ?light traps,? were first presented in Greece during the 2004 edition of Art Athina, where they went on display at the C. Grimaldis Gallery booth. Her installations are based on natural and artificial light, along with cement, plexiglass and paper.
?Since childhood, daylight was like some kind of miracle in my eyes. Later on, I tried to come up with ?light traps? by using iron and paper constructions and presenting them in the form of photographs; it was not an easy thing to do,? said Sauermann.
The exhibition is being organized in collaboration with the C. Grimaldis Gallery in Baltimore, Maryland, and the Projektburo Maria Riga in Aachen, Germany.
Macedonian Museum of Contemporary Art, 154 Egnatia, Thessaloniki tel 2310.281.567, 2310.240.002. To March 27. Opening hours: Tuesdays, Thursdays
