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24/5/2012

Rudolf Reiber

Payne Shurvell, London

All art is the same, it is an attempt to fill an empty space - Samuel Beckett

PayneShurvell is pleased to present Suspiria, the first solo exhibition in London of the German artist Rudolf Reiber.

The gallery has been closed for a month while Reiber has been working on his site-specific piece, chipping away by hand dozens of layers of paint accumulated over 50 years in the former industrial unit that houses the gallery. The newly revealed floor has been polished dozens of times and then finally a protective resin has been applied. The work will be kept in this pristine condition for the length of Reiber’s show.

This lovingly worked piece called Losing Ground (2012) is not however designed to be walked on and the gallery will be closed to visitors who will only be able to view the piece via the back office. Reiber’s work questions not just what a gallery is physically but also its psychological effect and how the spectator engages with an artwork.

On display in the gallery will be a painting sealed in a packing crate that Reiber commissioned from his partner for the exhibition. The content of the painting is of a secret his partner has not shared with him. The gallery directors and any potential buyers will have to sign an agreement not to open the crate.

Reiber¹s work addresses the idea of desire and denial, work that invites communion and engagement but is also actively resisting it. Reiber deals with the codification of language and with layers of meaning. He incorporates other codes and language systems (Braille, sign language) and also uses deceptively minimalistic means in his work, while subverting the conventions of minimalism to ironic effect.

For his 2011 graduation piece from the Slade School of Art, Reiber presented A Whiter Shade of Pale, a seemingly highly reductivist piece which was in fact extremely charged. He presented what appeared initially to be an empty space, while in fact each wall was painted with different types of commercially available white emulsion paint as used in the exhibition spaces of major international museums and galleries (e.g. Tate Modern, MOMA). This piece was arguably as much a commentary on minimalism as a critique on art institutions.

The title of this exhibition, Suspiria is taken from Dario Argento’s 1977 cult horror film, whose title came from Thomas de Quincey¹s Suspiria de Profundis (Sighs from the Depths), a further elaboration on the theme of secrets and confessions. Some of Reiber’s works reference the director’s signature obsession with sight and sightlessness, as well as the highly specific use of colour and a rigorous approach to finish.

In a multi-layered work dealing with language and interpretation, Reiber has made a 90-minute, 3-D film that is a Braille translation of Ingmar Bergman’s landmark 1963 film The Silence, to be shown one night only in the gallery.

Rudolf Reiber makes work of breathtaking subtlety, intelligence and complexity that examine the notion of what is both revealed and concealed. PayneShurvell is releasing a limited edition silkscreen print, No Room for Interpretation (image above) to accompany the show.

PayneShurvell has also commissioned the Gaelic poet Derry O’Sullivan to write his own interpretation of Suspiria (2012) which will be released as a sound piece on the PayneShurvell website

Rudolf Reiber (b. Frankfurt 1974) apprenticed as a stone mason before studying fine art at the Academy in Stuttgart, Germany the Academy in Vilnius, Lithuania and at the Slade, London. His practice includes video, installation, photography, painting and sculpture. Reiber has exhibited internationally in Germany, France, Denmark, Turkey, Russia and the US. Rudolf Reiber was the 2011 winner of the Salon Art Prize.

For more information and/or images, please contact Joanne Shurvell. Mobile: 07977996568 Email: jo@payneshurvell.com

PayneShurvell
16 Hewett St, London EC2A 2NN
Opening hours: Wed-Sat 11am-6pm and by appointment

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