Ioana Nemes, pieces from the series Time Exposure, epoxide, paint, laquer; 100 x 70 x 10cm, 2005-2010
This week I was lucky enough to discover the conceptual work of Romanian artist Ioana Nemes following a visit to the Jiri Svestka Gallery in Schöneberg for their summer show On the Threshold. Three large wall pieces, each a different colour but each resembling a giant tombstone, dominate the brightest of the spaces at the gallery and demand a somewhat ominous sense of intrigue. As one reads the exhibition notes the forboding feeling is deepened…‘As an obituary for one of the most talented artists from the gallery…’ Sadly, Ioana Nemes passed away in Spring of this year.
The pieces shown are part of Monthly Evaluations (Time Exposure), a long-term project in which Nemes’ attempted to analyze her interior system of organization- the way in which she truly functioned as a human being. Between 2005 and 2010 Nemes derived a personal methodology for transforming qualitative data regarding her own existence into quantitative measures. Daily thoughts and experiences were recorded using five parameters; physical, emotional, intellectual, financial and luck factor (P, E, I, F, L). Inspired by Swiss psychologist Max Luscher’s notions about colour, Nemes allocated each day logged a particular shade, along with a quotation or saying, before sculpting them into objects and/or installations.
It was impossible not to begin speculating about my own day-to-day self-evaluation. What would this day score in terms of ‘P, E, I, F and L’? How would the chronology of my life look if I were to archive each day- not just in standard journal format- but as imposing panels on the wall? What would the scientific experiment all mean when those days came to an end?
On this particular day at the Jiri Svestka Gallery it seemed a great tragedy, for an artist whose primary medium was time to run out of it so soon.
The pieces shown are part of Monthly Evaluations (Time Exposure), a long-term project in which Nemes’ attempted to analyze her interior system of organization- the way in which she truly functioned as a human being. Between 2005 and 2010 Nemes derived a personal methodology for transforming qualitative data regarding her own existence into quantitative measures. Daily thoughts and experiences were recorded using five parameters; physical, emotional, intellectual, financial and luck factor (P, E, I, F, L). Inspired by Swiss psychologist Max Luscher’s notions about colour, Nemes allocated each day logged a particular shade, along with a quotation or saying, before sculpting them into objects and/or installations.
It was impossible not to begin speculating about my own day-to-day self-evaluation. What would this day score in terms of ‘P, E, I, F and L’? How would the chronology of my life look if I were to archive each day- not just in standard journal format- but as imposing panels on the wall? What would the scientific experiment all mean when those days came to an end?
On this particular day at the Jiri Svestka Gallery it seemed a great tragedy, for an artist whose primary medium was time to run out of it so soon.
Ioana Nemes, details from the series Time Exposure, epoxide, paint, laquer; 100 x 70 x 10cm, 2005-2010
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Additional Information
See more of Ioana Nemes’ work:
ioananemes.ro
JIRI SVESTKA GALLERY
“On the Threshold” – GROUP SHOW
Exhibition: Jul. 6 – Aug. 20, 2011
Potsdamer Str. 81c, (click here for map)
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Blog entry and photographs by Samantha Manton in Berlin; Saturday, August 20, 2011.
