Alejandra Seeber
«Links and Loops»

Opening:
Thursday, January 22, 2015 | 6 – 9 pm
Exhibition:
until March 21, 2015

We are delighted to present our second solo exhibition of Argentinian painter Alejandra Seeber, whose works received wide recognition at the 2009 Biennial of Mercosul in Porto Alegre (BR) and at the Kunstmuseum St.Gallen’s important exhibition »Ambigu« in 2010. The latest works of the New York based artist constitute a colorful and powerful start of our 2015 exhibition cycle.

In her often large-scale works, Alejandra Seeber (*1968, Buenos Aires) explores the diverse possibilities of painting in between figuration and abstraction. Her ambivalent pictorial language cannot be deciphered on a linear path, since in her colorful shining paintings, out of nonrepresentational elements, narrative references suddenly emerge. There are allusions to subjects that dissolve instantly into expressive chromaticity and painterly dynamics. These dichotomies and the encounter of different motives let her works become many-faceted and surprising.

In her second solo exhibition at Häusler Contemporary München called «Links and Loops», Alejandra Seeber presents recent paintings that are mainly part of two series of works. Curly lines and loops are recurrent elements that act as a link among several of these paintings.


The pieces from the «Disco Years» series are of a particular charisma not only due to their shining colors, but also because they are radially composed around a vaguely depicted central point. Diagonal lines run from the edges of the canvas towards the middle, thus dividing the plane into several triangular segments. These segments open up different pictorial spaces and allow for a simultaneity of diversities. The painting «Pyramid/Prism» for example presents painterly parts next to parts of a more drawing-like character. The lower left corner shows the hint of a landscape, and the upper left corner might allude to the sky above this landscape. In between these two spaces we can find a segment full of orange line patterns that is confronted by a striped plane in the opposite corner. Along with other parts which are less clearly delineated, these diverse and dynamic segments form a coherent entity.

The «Disco Years» series was inspired by old video clips as known for example from the 1970ies and 1980ies, when the film editing used to produce fancy effects for splitting up the screen. From this starting point, the artist’s idea continually assumed an independent reality in her paintings of the past two years. The trademark coexistence of different manners of painting in Seeber’s work is pointedly expressed in these pictures.

In addition to that, the artist practices a much calmer way of painting in the «Getaway» series. A singular and large abstract form often dominates the composition of these pictures, and often this abstract element also adopts features of an object. In «Landscape Neon» for example, the main figure reminds of a plant, in «Escape 1» one might recognize an hourglass. For this series, Seeber imposed self-made conditions on her way of painting that she terms «elegant palette and no conflict«. The artist as well as the viewer can dive into contemplation when facing these paintings. As suggested by the title, they allow for an escape into a meditative and balanced color space.

Along with other works this exhibition visualizes the typical power and variety of Alejandra Seeber’s painting.

Deborah Keller, Häusler Contemporary