31/10/2007
Nuno Coelho
Rosalux, Berlin
A land without people for people without land. The exhibition is comprised of large format porters, each with a black and white outline illustration, which visitors are invited to colour using the coloured pencils provided. Coelho is exploring the familiar concepts of his work such as the use of vernacular cultural reference and viewer interaction through print media.
A land without people for people without land
The exhibition "A Land Without People for a People Without Land" is
comprised of large format porters, each with a black and white outline
illustration, which visitors are invited to colour using the coloured
pencils provided. Once again, Nuno Coelho is exploring the familiar concepts
of his work such as the use of vernacular cultural reference and viewer
interaction through print media. The posters display various maps and
graphics, and also include material directly taken from photographs
collected by the artist during a month long trip to Palestine in 2006,
during which he had the opportunity to explore and research the complex
situation in the region.
In this exhibition, Nuno Coelho produces a visual discourse around the
social tensions of daily life in this region where three continents collide,
and proposes a new approach to exploring the Arab-Israeli conflict. This
discourse is critical, but it is also ironic, and playfully exposes the
absurdity in the current situation. This concept of the absurd is emphasized
by the appropriation of infantile language and iconography, used to
illustrate the reality of the current sociopolitical situation. The work
demonstrates the opinion of the artist that although there is a global
discourse surrounding Palestine, few people can reach beyond shock images
and headlines engineered by the Media and understand the basic principles of
the conflict.
The work also invites us to question whether it is possible for an artwork
to have immense political focus without becoming one-sided, or attempting to
be transgressive, subversive or an act of political activism. Arguably,
denying philosophy is in itself a philosophical act, and so perhaps even
attempting to create artwork that avoids dealing directly with politics is
intrinsically to take a definite political position.
An exhibition catalogue is available, comprised of miniature prints of each
of the posters featured in the exhibition. Each edition is accompanied by a
box of coloured pencils. Catalogues will be limited edition, each one
numbered and signed by the artist.
Nuno Coelho is a communication Designer, who lives and works in Porto. "A
Land Without People for a People Without Land" is the first individual
exhibition by the artist with work created specifically for this exhibition.
Opening November, 1st 2007 at 7 pm.
Rosalux
Elisabethkirchstrasse, 11- Berlin
Wed to Sat, 2 to 6 pm.
Free admission