Article by Liz Feder in Berlin // Tuesday, Dec. 20, 2011
The question of perception in art is a deeply complex one, especially as the visual arts aim to engage more across social, political, linguistic and geographic boundaries. The work of Kathleen Vance, in particular her Running Stream currently on view at galerie OPEN, deals explicitly with issues of displacement, categorical definition, and the fragile line between natural and artificial.
Kathleen Vance: ‘Running Stream’, 2011, installation, Resin and artificial plants, soil and foliage collected from local site in Berlin adjacent to galerie OPEN, circulating pump and water // Photo by Klaus Pichler
As part of the group show, “Creating Realities,” Running Stream is itself displaced, while simultaneously invading the construct of the white cube gallery. Besides reading as a rural Maryland stream that has been transplanted into a wildly foreign context, this work of Vance’s is also demanding to be perceived differently within the company of the show’s other artists, including Klaus Pichler and Rebbeca Loyche.
The evidence of Running Stream’s artificiality (the feel of the supportive cement, the hum of the circulation pump) adds another level to the blurriness of this line of subjectivity. It is the ambiguity between the elements she activates that creates a richly transformative experience for the viewer, one not to miss. “Creating Realities” is open until January 12, 2012 at galerie OPEN in Berlin.
Kathleen Vance with ‘Running Stream’ installation
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Additional Information
galerie OPEN by Alexandra Rockelmann
“Creating Realities”– GROUP SHOW
Exhibition: Oct. 27, 2011 – Jan. 12, 2012
Legiendamm 18-20 (click here for map)
Featured artists in “Creating Realities”: Hélène van Duijn , Rebecca Loyche , Klaus Pichler , Thomas Stüssi , Kathleen Vance
Berlin Art Link Studio Visit with Kathleen Vance (2010):
berlinartlink.com/kathleen-vance-studio-visit
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