Circle Becoming Body: transforming abstract to tangible

Throughout history and in various cultures, the circle has been used as a symbol of life, renewal, perfection and eternity. During the classical period some thinkers, such as Plato, considered the circle as a metaphor for the ideal shape. It had a perfect and immutable structure that facilitated the transition of ideas. However, in the exhibition Circle Becoming Body, this symbol is considered as the starting point for exploring metamorphosis, fluidity and interconnectedness. Due to its continuous and endless nature, it symbolizes evolution and change. In this exercise, the artists expand their perception, creating aesthetic dialogues to turn the intangible into the tangible.

Circle Becoming Body brings together the work of twelve artists from diverse cultural and geographic backgrounds. Within this context, the Alte Handelsschule gallery and the artists’ studios become a heterotopic space where a creative tapestry is woven between Adrienne M. Finnerty, Eugenia Soma, Felix von Dallwitz, Garth William Howells, Hee Je Cho, Hyeji Lee, Jacquie Meng, Lina Buck, Pia von Reis, Ralph Skunkie Davis, Seirin Hyung and Yingtong Zhou. Their artistic languages transcend time and space when interacting with the moment.

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installation views by Julianne Csapo, vernissage by maeshelle west-davies

Framed by the entrance door, Hee Je’s piece welcomes you with an exquisite play of shapes, colors and textures. He explores the physical and reflective to record transience in relation to time.

The aesthetic contrast between the paintings of Jacquie and Garth produces a meeting of memory and experience. Through this visual game, the artists investigate images that evoke everyday memories, acting as a reflection of individual and collective memory. This nucleus allows us to identify the constant interaction of different generations and cultures in a contemporary context.

Memory/Experience/The Physical Body

Lina, Adrienne, and Yingtong’s works arise from explorations, transformations and constant questioning. These processes materialize the abstract by connecting feelings, emotions and memories in each piece. Investigating the construction of the figure in space, they explore the mysticism and movement of ephemeral nature.

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installation views by Julianne Csapo, vernissage by maeshelle west-davies

Fossils, CDs and artificial intelligence are used to weave the works of Seirin, Ralph and Félix together, all to recontextualize objects and classical techniques. Anticipating technological, ideological and natural transformations through their artistic proposal, they embrace this continuous evolution through today’s artistic phenomenons.

Technology/Evolution/Organicity

Eugenia, Hyeji and Pia balance and record time as an experience. The use of regional and organic objects and materials establish and transform dialogues between emotions and memory, giving rise to temporary narratives that shape our identity in a certain time and space.

Together, the pieces that make Circle Becoming Body an exhibition take us on a journey through the complexity of the human experience. Thus allowing us to explore the interconnection of artistic languages, and generational ideologies. They conceive and show the human experience from a multitude of perspectives as transformation processes.

curators Alfredo Huerta Hurtado and Jialu Wang