FUTURE GALLERY

Custom Utility

Nicolas Pelzer

27 Jun. – 26 Jul. 2014

Future Gallery is proud to present Custom Utility, the second solo show by German artist Nicolas Pelzer at the gallery.

Entering the exhibition space, the viewer is confronted with a large-scale glass panel installation, Breath Control (2014) which fans out and covers large parts of the exhibition space. The transparent material becomes visible through reflections and the overlay of several glass sheets, with its semi-presence blurring the view on the works behind, Stones (2014), merging them together into one constellation. Pelzer uses Google image search as a basis for these works, focusing on the formal quality of the stone. The context of its origin is lost, resulting in anonymous photographic objects. The stones are isolated and enlarged, being distorted in a digital sculpting process to fit into the “container” chosen by the artist, a square frame. The conflict between the work in the space is implied and shifts our focus to the precondition of an object’s physical presence.

Another series of works, shown in the second space, are water-jet cut foam works, wall objects that associate inlays of tool boxes, custom-made to protect the instruments. Between recognizable shapes, like a crowbar or a screw driver, the viewer discovers some that are difficult to classify, making the whole composition an abstract placeholder for unknown variables. This reference to work and physical labor can be seen as a counter piece to the origin of the second installation presented in the space, Orthopedic Reconstructions (2014). On a long gently inclined wedge-shaped pedestal, several orthopedic pillows are presented as segments of the human body. They stand for physical limitation, inferring the change of lifestyle and working conditions in contemporary society. The tool is eclipsed, it then re-appears as camouflage patterns on the fabrics the pillows are covered with. The pillows evoke a seemingly digital appearance and sci-fi aesthetic, where the human body itself becomes replaced.

Nicolas Pelzer (*1982, Dinslaken, Germany) lives and works between Berlin and Gent. He is currently completing a residency at the HISK in Gent, Belgium. Recent and upcoming exhibitions include: Kunst im Tunnel, Düsseldorf; Skulpturenmuseum Glaskasten, Marl, Germany; Artsonje Center, Seoul, South Korea; Bundeskunsthalle, Bonn; Kunstverein für die Rheinlande und Westfalen, Düsseldorf.

Stone, 2014, Framed digital C-print, 130 x 130 cm
Stone, 2014, Framed digital C-print, 130 x 130 cm
install view
Breath Control, 2014, Float glass, panel connectors, Dimensions variable
install view
install view
Orthopedic reconstructions, 2014, Orthopedic pillows, satin, spray paint, pedestal, 29 x 72 x 390 cm
install view
install view
Stone, 2014, Framed digital C-print, 130 x 130 cm
Muscle Remainder, 2014, Water-jet cut foam, 80 x 60 cm
Muscle Remainder, 2014, Water-jet cut foam, 80 x 60 cm
Muscle Remainder, 2014, Water-jet cut foam, 80 x 60 cm