Emerging from his background as a mechanical engineer, the artistic work by Jonathan Apelbaum aims for creation through collaboration. Those bearing witness to his large- scale oil portraiture in framework of the exhibition „Family“ will be invited to engage with a synergy of diverse elements embedded within their production.
Alongside a team of engineers, the French-Algerian artist has developed Al sensory hardware that, when paired with the paintings, change their composition in response to certain external stimuli, such as motion or the pulse of a nearby body. With nearly 2000 LED lights behind each cognitive painting, stories unfold that are constantly evolving, influencing and being influenced by their peripheral environments. As meditations on gender, intimacy, family, religion and technology, they are in constant conversation with themselves and their audiences.
“To me, family means two things: the biological family and the family you choose, my family in France, and my family in Berlin. The two are fundamentally different, the Berlin family is queer and kinky, it's the family you can fuck with. Then there is the family that witnessed your birth, the family you grew up with, where you came from. Both are inescapably intertwined and for a brief moment, a minute or a month, I would like to put these two opposing ideas of what constitutes a family into one single space.”
Each weekend, throughout the course of this show, the artist will invite a member of his chosen family to collaborate and unite their art with his paintings. The ambition is to show their very own version of what family means. While Klara Ravat will create a unique scent composition designed for each show, the programming will include performances and music by various artists:
Schedule
Friday 18.11.2022, 6pm-10pm
Opening & sound installation by Marco Colocci After-Party at Aeden Club
Saturday 19.11.2022, 6pm-10pm
“Hejfar” - Performance by Matilde Flor Usinger & Nana Finding Koppel Sound by Maria Leth
Saturday 26.11.2022, 6pm-10pm
“CROWDPLEASER” - Performance by Skjold Rambow in collab with Rasmus Balling Sound design by Thomas Pozar
Umbrella by Helene Due
Saturday 03.12.2022, 6pm-10pm
“RUNAWAY HYPOTHESIS” - Performance by Tanja Bombach
Concept, Direction and costume design by Tanja Bombach
Choreography in collaboration with the dancers Lena Kilchitskaya and June Sound Design by Simone Antonioniby Tanja Bombach
Saturday 10.12.2022, 6pm-10pm
“Her Voice” - Performance by Vivian Assal Koohnavard Sound/Voice by Vivian Assal Koohnavard
Text by Vivian Assal Koohnavard and Venessa Sahar Koohnavard