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5/9/2008

Justine Otto

Galerie Martin Mertens, Berlin

We are proud to present Justine Otto’s first solo show at Martin Mertens. In the last few years, Otto acquired international recognition with her fine paintings. For the show at Martin Mertens, Otto produced a brand new series.

The title derives from T.C. Boyle’s book “Tooth and Claw“ which tells of small flaps (= coincident) that seem to be little and insignificant at first sight but, in effect, do change or influence life tremendously. One of Otto’s central themes - “children and young adolescents“- also characterises this new group of work. Otto predominantly used life models to paint the young women that appear on almost every canvas. However, she does not aim at producing a psychological portrait of these individuals. Instead, she acts as a director who dictates her models (mostly girls) what to do and positions them in certain settings, just like she has done in earlier series.

Even though the scenarios reveal a certain naturalness, some of them appear rather surreal when observed closer. One young woman, for example, picks birds in the bushes and beads them into a necklace for herself. Otto’s figures move in their own space, absorbed in their actions and in a dream-like state, without noticing the often so close viewer. The pictorial spaces show enlarged details of an indefinite environment, either natural or urban. The piece „Tooth and Claw“ to whom the show owes its name depicts a dead wolf behind a young girl, who wears a crimson dress under a fur coat. Contemplative but self-confident, she stares into space. Wild animals such as birds and wolves are a consistent theme in Otto’s paintings. They are domesticated, picked up or killed – mastering nature and attaining freedom, instinct and drive?

Finally, Otto’s enormous pictorial ability must also be pointed out. The handling of light and the boundless play with colour contrasts and harmonies provide the paintings with high quality regardless of theme. The creation of skin colour out of more than a dozen tones, for example, is extraordinary. Faces and bodies become effervescent 3-dimensional “landscapes”. The almost impressionistic surfaces created by confident and energetic brush strokes reveal a diversified play of colour. It is only from further away that each respective subject matter becomes visible.

Opening: Saturday, 6 September 2008, 6 pm

Galerie Martin Mertens
Brunnenstrasse 162 - Berlin
Tuesday to Saturday 12:00 to 18:00 & by prior arrangement
Free admission

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