What Art Does? – Was Macht Kunst?

Karin was pleased to have been selected by Southwark Arts Forum to show work in this exhibition at the Volkshochschule Langenhagen. The exhibition was opened by the Mayor of Southwark and the Bürgermeister of Langenhagen.
Karin has given an interview for this exhibition. The film of the interview, which addresses the relationship between Art and society, will be shown throughout the exhibition.

See Karin’s interview for the exhibition

Heavens Below

Heavens Below

Die Organisatorinnen der Ausstellung Shirin Schikowsky und Annette von Stieglitz vor den Photogemälden von Karin Wach aus Southwark

See on-line press report of the opening.

Concretum

Karin showed her work In His own Image in the Bermondsey Artists’ Group’s Concretum exhibition.

In His own Image

"In His own Image" in the exhibition

Unframed studio photo of "In His own Image"

Unframed studio photo of "In His own Image"

Venue: Dilston Grove, London.
Dates: 10 Mar 2011 – 27 Mar 2011

The Power and the Glory

Karin was delighted to have been offered a solo exhibition by the Candid Arts Trust. This took place between 1st and 6th February 2011. Karin showed a selection of the Bankside Power Station cycle (25 works) and 6 experimental works.

Karin would like to thank Professor Dawn Ades for opening the private view and was honoured that Herr Cord Meier-Klodt, the German cultural attaché, attended.

www.candidarts.com

Reworked 2

Penarth Arts & Crafts Ltd, which manages the Washington Gallery, has invited 47 artists to produce works using recycled materials. Karin’s piece Meme x 2 was selected for this exhibition.

Washington Gallery, Penarth

Washington Gallery, Penarth

Reworked2 Flyer

Meme07 in a special location

Meme Flyer

For this exhibition I have created two works, Meme x 2 and Meme Encounters that make visible the life cycle of such ideas, believes, fashions which are taken up by society at one point in time and then dropped and forgotten when another idea, attitude takes over, e.g. ‘Waste Not, Want Not’ has been discarded in favour of ‘Out Of Sight, Out Of Mind’. Litter, in the widest sense of the word, spreads through our environment like a virus for which we have no thought or cure at present.

On MDF board sprayed with silver car paint I have arranged in rows black film containers in a shape resembling a flower head. Within a row a new flower head (new idea or meme) appears in that it has a white centre. It spreads through the following rows till it has gained ascendancy over the black flower heads and is itself ‘invaded’ by a new flower head (white with a black centre). It goes without saying that these containers are normally thrown away.

Meme x 2 in context

Meme x 2 in context

Meme x 2

Meme x 2

The installation (the Return of the Unwanted) shows how a Meme may be superseded for better or for worse, in this case surely ‘for worse’.

The first work shows the uncontaminated Thames at low tide. It is very beautiful. The second work is of the urban Thames. Bits of litter are swirling around in the water and a red canister is bobbing through the painting. It is still beautiful.

Thames at low tide and Urban Thames

Thames at low tide and Urban Thames

The third wall-hung piece is a ‘River of Litter’, after which you enter a dark damp room. Gulls are screaming and waves crash on the beach, only this beach is rubbish that I collected from the Thames foreshore at Bermondsey. It is as if it has finally poured out of the paintings. In the course of collecting the rubbish, I found 25 white plastic bottles containing a message each.

A Morning on the Beach

A Morning on the Beach

After the damp room, a sculpture suspended from the ceiling forces the viewer to push aside a bicycle wheel (retrieved from the river) to view a photo attached to a squashed bottle. This photo shows rubbish dumped in front of gate with the sign ‘Please do not obstruct’. The viewer is physically forced to engage with the rubbish – a non-verbal message.

Sculpture suspended from ceiling

Sculpture suspended from ceiling