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CHARLIE SMITH LONDON presents four European artists to mark the centenary of the beginning of The Great War. Working across mediums in installation, drawing and painting, Harold de Bree (Netherlands), Florian Heinke (Germany), Eric Manigaud (France) and Hugh Mendes (United Kingdom) have made new work in response to the brief. Each artist was specifically invited by gallery director Zavier Ellis for their ongoing investigations into world war, with it being a dominant theme in all of their practices. Hailing from European countries that played significant roles between 1914 and 1918, each artist approaches the theme with profound and reflective endeavour. Dutch artist Harold de Bree is known for making large scale installation and sculpture that replicates military hardware and public monuments. Playing on historical institutional tropes, de Bree poses complex questions about power, culture and nationalism. In this exhibition de Bree will present a site specific piece that resembles a WWI monument that might be found anywhere in Europe, but which also acts as a border marker. With wheels attached beneath, it is possible for the monument to move, hence commenting on the historical flux of national borders, and the implication of mutable frontlines that are defined by the processes of war and politics. German artist Florian Heinke uses black paint exclusively as a "radical medium". His subjects are derived from traditional and digital media sources and often combine text to create an aesthetic that suggests a polemic poster or advertisement. Heinke’s paintings are aggressive, political and nihilistic. This unrestrained approach is intended to provoke the audience into an emotive reaction, much in the same way that corporate businesses and political parties manipulate the public with powerful combinations of imagery and slogans. Heinke’s confrontational strategy reveals a deep lying cynicism of the modern age but also an artist who is profoundly concerned with current socio-political issues. |
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French artist Eric Manigaud is renowned for his impeccable large scale photorealist drawings. Derived from historical sources, Manigaud’s choice of imagery is based on monumental historical moments of the modern age. For this exhibition Manigaud has returned to his ongoing war series, which to date has included depictions of WWI trench warfare; WWI injured soldiers; and WWII bombed cities. Focusing on the impact of war in his homeland, Tranchée de Calonne is a devastating drawing over two metres wide that depicts the skeletal remains of soldiers killed near the famous road, which was a site of ferocious fighting during WWI and represented for some time the eastern French front. British artist Hugh Mendes was born on Armistice Day in a British military hospital in Germany. His mother was a military nurse and his father a British Intelligence code breaker. Mendes is recognized for his paintings of newspaper pages, where he has continued to relentlessly track and transcribe obituaries and war stories. Mendes approaches WWI with irony and scepticism, choosing to focus on the absurd and whimsical, but with underlying pathos. His obsessive paintings are a personal reflection on the obsessions of the media. Sgt. Stubby, for example, is a recreation of a photograph of WWI’s most decorated war dog, who served 18 months in the trenches of France serving the US army. Stubby was decorated for, amongst other things, saving injured comrades in no man’s land, capturing German spies and detecting gas attacks. In combination these artists will form a thought provoking exhibition that ruminates on the meaning and effects of war. |
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Harold de Bree
Born
1966
Education
1991-1995 Royal Academy of Art, Den Hague
Selected Exhibitions
2013: ‘s Gravenhaarlem, Haarlem, Nieuwe Vide; Stealth Drones, Twente Biennale; Joan of Art, Maldives Pavilion, Venice Biennale; Collapsed Bailey Bridge, Gemeentemuseum, Den Hague; SOS Sauna Boat; Joan of Art, Five Years Gallery, London; Am Tisch, Schau Fenster, Berlin; 2012: Being Homonym, Uhm Collective, Den Hague; 2011: I Should Have Done That, Nest, Den Hague; 2010: Bipolar, Plan-d, Düsseldorf ; 2008: Manifesta 7, European Biennale of Contemporary Art; Harold de Bree & Carol Rama, Galerie West, Den Hague; 2007: Lost Tongues Rediscovered, Stroom, Den Hague; 2005: TYP XVII, Gem Museum voor actuele Kunst, Den Hague; 2004: I Work, Museum of Tampere; 2003: Entrance A-37, Raumars Art Museum
Collections
Private collections throughout Europe
Florian Heinke
Born
1981
Education
2009: MA of Fine Arts, Städelschule, Frankfurt am Main; 2005: Städelschule, Frankfurt am Main; 2004-2005: Johannes Gutenberg Universität Mainz
Solo Exhibitions
2010: Savee Couture, Velvet, Frankfurt am Main; The last curs fight the bricks, Galerie Perpetuél, Frankfurt am Main; Florian H., Moloko, Frankfurt am Main; 2009: Still my own idol, PSM-Gallery, Berlin; Florian Heinke, bKi, Darmstadt; Apart from heaven, Galerie La Brique, Frankfurt am Main; 2008: A fast way downstairs, Sammlung-Lenikus, Wien; Paradise overdosed, Galerie Campagne Premiere, Berlin; Pervers durchs Paradies, Kunstverein Familie Montez, Frankfurt am Main
Selected Group Exhibitions
2011: When Poets Die, Galerie Anita Beckers, Frankfurt am Main; 2010: Home - EAST/WEST Project; Dam Stuhlgarter Gallery Brooklyn, Berlin; Nobel geht die Welt zu Grunde, Atelierfrankfurt, Frankfurt am Main; Setzen! 5!, Galerie Wolfstädter, Frankfurt am Main; 2009: Viel vor, viel dahinter (2 Jahre Artsite.tv), Kunstverein, Frankfurt am Main; Die Dinge des Lebens, Galerie P13, Heidelberg; Dude, where´s my carreer?, Absolventenausstellung Städelschule , Zollamt MMK, Frankfurt am Main; Lob der Kritik. Ihre Meinung ist uns wichtig, Galerie Frühsorge; 2008: Dirty Storm, Raum SOD, Frankfurt am Main; Simple exploding men, Artnews Projects, Berlin
Collections
Private collections throughout Europe
Eric Manigaud
Born
1971
Education
1996: Agrégation d’Arts Plastiques, University of Fine Arts, Saint Etienne; 1993: Maîtrise d’Arts Plastiques, University of Fine Arts, Saint Etienne
Solo Exhibitions
2013: The Shadow Line, CHARLIE SMITH london, London; Klinikum Weilmunster, Olivier Houg Galerie, Lyon; Dreams and Ruins, Galerie d'Art Moderne, Sarajevo
Selected Group Exhibitions
2013: Paper, Saatchi Gallery, London; 2012: Saatchi Gallery & Channel 4’s New Sensations and The Future Can Wait (curated by Zavier Ellis, Simon Rumley & Rebecca Wilson), B1, Victoria House, London; Anthology, CHARLIE SMITH london, London; 2010: Figure Toi!, FRAC Haute-Normandie, Rouen; Fake!, Stedelijk Museum, Alost; 2009: L'Afrique en Noir et Blanc, Musée Senlecq, l’Isle-Adam; Fragile, Museum of Art, Mannyun-dong Seo-gu Daejeon, Corée; 2006: 1914-1918, Musée d'Histoire du XXème Siècle, Estivareilles; 2005, Focalise, les voies de l’optique, Musée d’Art et d’Industrie, Saint Etienne
Collections
Saatchi Gallery, London; The SØR Rusche Collection, Oelde / Berlin; FRAC Haute-Normandie, Rouen; Landesmuseen Scloss Gottorf, Schleswig; Paul Dini Museum, Villefranche-sur-Saône; Julian and Stephanie Grose, Adelaide; Randal J. Kirk, Virginia; private collections in Belgium, France, United Kingdom & United States
Hugh Mendes
Born
1955
Education
2000- 2001: MA Fine Art, City and Guilds of London Art School; 1975-1978: BA (Hons) Fine Art, Chelsea School of Art, London
Solo Exhibitions
2013: D.OA. the Good, the Bad and the Ugly, Gusford, Los Angeles; 2012: Obituaries, CHARLIE SMITH london, London ; 2011: 9/10/11, KENNY SCHACHTER / ROVE, London
Selected Group Exhibitions
2012: Saatchi Gallery & Channel 4’s New Sensations and The Future Can Wait, Victoria House, London; Polemically Small (curated by Edward Lucie-Smith), Klaipeda Culture Communication Centre, Klaipeda; The Future Can Wait presents: Polemically Small, Torrance Art Museum, Torrance; 2010: Press Art, Museum der Moderne, Salzburg; 2008: New London School (curated by Zavier Ellis & Simon Rumley), Mark Moore Gallery, Los Angeles; 2006: New London Kicks, Wooster Projects, New York; 2005: Fuckin’ Brilliant, Tokyo Wonder Site, Tokyo; Art News, Raid Projects, Los Angeles; 2004: Forest, Rockwell Gallery, London; 2003: Chockafukingblocked, Jeffery Charles Gallery, London; 2002: Yesteryearnowadays, Hales Gallery, London
336 Old St, 2nd Floor, London, EC1V 9DR
