A sweeping gesture to a lasting effect

VITRINE is delighted to announce the inaugural exhibition of the gallery’s new permanent space in Basel, Switzerland. The group exhibition ‘A Journey from a sweeping gesture to a lasting effect’ brings together a group of international artists who take a transformative approach to material and mark making within multidisciplinary practices.

Each artist suggests a distinct use of material and process, often through imitation, repetition or movement. A point of reference for each artistic intervention is the unique exhibition space and its position on the public square. This coupled with the exhibition being viewable 24/7 presents new challenges for the contributing artists, which are re ected in the works shown. Works are positioned, at once, within and extending beyond the gallery’s boundaries. In a variety of mediums, works intervene, record or imprint this space.

As the title suggests, process and narrative are implied as varied systems of mark making and gesture are made visible to the viewer. As Wil Murray investigates transformative mechanisms in his artistic practice by using photography and painting as a hybrid form, he describes the painters mark as a journey, in which his action sends one narrative through another. For this exhibition, he presents an installation created site-responsively.

Kriz Olbricht’s works refer to painting through their titles. However, paint is replaced by tiles, adhesive plaster and reinforcement fabric. The artist transforms and elevates these common construction materials and creates architectural fragments without function, placed both inside the gallery space and extending beyond its borders into the public square.

The manipulation and the transformation of material and the questioning of their role as such takes an important part in Clare Kenny’s work. In this exhibition, fabric has been used as a mould for large plaster reliefs, which have then been directly printed upon. Subtle traces remain on the surface of each piece; abstracting details of the image and manipulating the material, which cause a certain confusion or questioning for the viewer. Valentina Pini also plays with the perception of the viewer in her works. Glass is painted with tarmac creating a mirror effect and re ecting the activities on the square, in combination with petite Madeleine forms cast in bronze.

Sam Porritt works with the unique architecture of the gallery, including its movable walls, presenting site- speci c drawings. Disorientation and the deferment or evasion of comprehension is explored through the artist’s response to the particular nature of the space and his parallel investigations into sculpture and drawing.

Through a performative work in the square, Nino Baumgartner responds to the architectural situation on site and the gallery’s launch. For this, the second of his staircase works, he takes on the lavish spiral staircase located just next to the exhibition space and uses Aura-Soma oils to concurrently trace and mark out his journey. Inviting viewers to adjust their understanding of their orientation and participate in his contrived spiritual act.

Garrett Nelson will present a performance work at the opening event, with interventions also addressing the topic of the newness of the gallery. He will turn the architectural surroundings into his stage and leave subtle representatives as traces of his actions. Meanwhile, with a good portion of irony, Joe Fletcher Orr invites the viewer to literally consume his edible work ‘Just Eat’, which is the information hand-out for the exhibition. The artist refers to the ephemeral character of the exhibition hand-out and leaves the digestion of the exhibition content to the viewer.

Nino Baumgartner 1979, Jegenstorf, Switzerland. Lives and works in Berne und Zurich, Switzerland. In 2012 he gratuated with an MA in Contemporary Arts Practice at Hochschule der Künste in Bern, Switzerland. Solo exhibitions include; Topical Delight Kunsthalle Tropical Mödrudalur Island (2015), Agro-Zen-Garten, Ausstellungsraum Klingental, Basel, Switzerland (2014), Learning from Warsaw Kunstverein Zurich and A-I-R Laboratory Warsaw, Poland (2013), Left Spot / Right Spot, Die Diele, Zurich, Switzerland (2013), I see this red Stone, Kunsthalle Tropical Mödrudalur, Iceland (2013), Scratches, Pieces, Faults and Foldings, Galerie Kretlow Berne, Switzerland (2013)

Joe Fletcher Orr1991, Birkenhead, UK. Lives and works in Liverpool, UK. He graduated from Manchester Metropolitan University in 2013 with a BA (Hons) in Fine Art. He has a current solo exhibition Mummy’s Boy at The international 3, Manchester. He has exhibited in group exhibitions across the UK most recently including: I’MTen, IMT Gallery, London (2015), SCOUSE HOUSE, Syson gallery, Nottingham (2015), Modern History Vol. 1, The Grundy, Blackpool (2015), SMALL ROME, Curated by Adam Carr, Frutta, Rome (2015) and £1 FISH, S1 Artspace, Shef eld (2014). He founded and runs CACTUS, Liverpool.

Clare Kenny 1976, Manchester, UK. Lives and works in Basel, Switzerland. She studied her BA in Fine art at Chelsea School of Art and Design, London and graduated in 2010 with an MA in Art in Public Spheres at Hochschule für Kunst und Gestaltung (University of the Arts Lucerne) Lucerne, Switzerland. She has undertaken residencies at Pro Helvetica, Shanghai and IAAB at Paris Cite des Art in Paris, France. Solo exhibitions include; Galerie Gisèle Linder, Basel, Switzerland, (2014), Yesterday’s Labour is the Future’s Folly, VITRINE, London, UK, (2013) and The Frame, DOLL l’espace d’art contemporain, Lausanne, Switzerland, (2012). Group exhibitions include; Diamonds Always Come in Small Packages, Kunstmuseum, Luzern, Switzerland (2015), ARTISSIMA, Turin, Italy, (2014), Monolithic Water, Kunsthaus Zürich, Switzerland (2014) and ARTBASEL, Basel, Switzerland, (2014).

Wil Murray 1978, Calgary, Canada. Lives and works across Berlin and Calgary. He studied painting at the Alberta College of Art and Design in Canada. Solo exhibitions include; On Invasive Species and In delity, Art Gallery of Alberta (2015), The Enemies of The Novel, Back Gallery Project, Vancouver, CA (2015), Negative Exposure, Katzman Contemporary/CONTACT 2015 Toronto, CA (2015), Painted Shut, Dialogues at The London Art Fair: Projects (2015), Please Boss Remember Me, VITRINE, London, UK, (2014). Group exhibitions include; NOT A PHOTO, The Hole. New York, US (2015), SOUGHT, Jarvis Hall Fine Art. Calgary, CA (2015), An evanescent x, VITRINE, London, UK (2015) – Future Station: Alberta Biennial (2015), Art Gallery of Alberta, Edmonton CA Art (2015), The Painting Project, GALERIE DE L’UQAM, Montreal Quebec, Canada, (2013), Broadcast and Tape Modern No.25, Tape Club Berlin, Germany, (2012).

Garrett Nelson 1982, Switzerland/USA/Canada. Lives and works in Switzerland and Mexico City. Nelson has lectured recently in Athens and Stockholm at the International Deleuze Conferences. Recent exhibitions and performances at Kunsthalle Zürich, Museo de la Ciudad Mexico, Taylor Macklin, Oslo10 Basel, Kunsthalle Basel, Centre PasquArt Biel, SALT Galata Istanbul, Les Urbaines Lausanne and Sinop Biennial Turkey. Collaborative curatorial projects include —The Traveling Artist, Budapest, Vienna & Basel, 2011 — The State of Making Things, la rada Locarno, 2013. He received the Canton of Zürich Art Prize in 2014 and the City of Zürich Award in 2015 and was selected for the 2015 Swiss Art Awards.

Kriz Olbricht 1986, Freiburg, Germany. Lives and works in Cologne, Germany. In 2013 Olbricht graduated from the ‘Staatliche Akademie der Bildenden Künste’ in Karlsruhe and from 2012-2013 became master student of Prof. Leni Hoffmann. Recent solo shows include; KFAK, K: KO / UP, Kunstfenster für aktuelle Kunst, Kassel, Germany with Uta Pütz (2015), Kriz Olbricht, Kunstraum Foth, Freiburg, Germany (2015). Group exhibitions include: Vierundzwanzig, Pförtnerhaus, Freiburg, Germany (2015), New! New Too!, Kunstraum Riehen, Riehen, Switzerland (2015), Konnexion, Forum Kunst und Architektur, Essen, Germany (2015), Perspective Ralantie, La Galerie_Cité Internationale des Arts, Paris (2015).

Valentina Pini 1982, Sorengo, Switzerland. Lives and works between Zürich and London. She gratuated in 2015 from an MA in Sculpture at Royal College of Art, London. Recent group exhibitions include: Museo Villa dei Cedri, Disegno Installativo, Bellinzona, Switzerland (2016), Dienstgebäude, Catch of the years 2015, Zürich Switzerland (2015), Raw Art Gallery, Finals, Tel Aviv, Israel (2015), Royal College of Art, MA Show RCA 2015, London, UK (2015), Alserkal Avenue, RCA Flux, curated by Juan Cruz, Dubai, United Arab Emirates (2015), Platform Gallery, N2, London, UK (2015).

Sam Porritt 1979, London, UK. Lives and works in Zurich, Switzerland. He studied his BA in Fine Art (Sculpture) at Chelsea School of Art and Design, London and gratuated in 2005 with a Post Graduate Diploma at the Royal Academy Schools, London, UK. Recent solo exhibitions include: Hiding In Plain Sight, (with Fabio Pirovino) Futta, Rome, Italy (2016), Falling Gets Me Down, Naming Rights, London, UK (2015), The More You Look, The More You Look, 100 plus, Zürich, Switzerland (2014). Recent group exhibitions include: Being Boring, Living Art Museum, Reykjavik, Iceland (2016), L’Hospice des Mille-Cuisses, CAN, Neuchâtel, Switzerland (2015), Works on Paper by Sculptors, The Royal Academy of Arts, London, UK (2015), Hairy Plotter and the Polygrapher’s Tones, Toves, Copenhagen, Danmark (2015), Reliability of Recognition, BolteLang, Zürich, Switzerland (2015).