Something huge, something major, something great and disastrous
Brian Tennessee Claflin (texts) E.M.C. Collard (paintings)
Curated by Michael Rade
18 November - 23 December 2018
Private view/book launch : Sunday, 18 November 2018
Private view/book launch : Sunday, 18 November 2018
GSL Projekt
Liegnitzer Str. 34
D - 10999 Berlin
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| E.M.C. Collard, ovarian sprout / Y plant, 2015, oil on canvas, 24 x 18 cm |
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E.M.C. Collard, bud canari, 2015, oil on canvas, 24 x 18 cm
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| E.M.C. Collard, dewy anterior / glossum got back, 2014, oil on canvas, 50 x 40 cm |
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| E.M.C. Collard, coral deep / mushroom salad, 2018, oil on canvas, 40 x 30 cm |
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| E.M.C. Collard, g.p.t.s.t.s.n. wimpernblume, 2018, oil on canvas, 40 x 30 cm |
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| E.M.C. Collard, g.p.t.s.t.s.n. lego poppy, 2018, oil on canvas, 50 x 40 cm |
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| E.M.C. Collard, purple cyclops orchid, 2014, oil on canvas, 80 x 60 cm |
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| E.M.C. Collard, string veg / cabbage medley, 2018, oil on canvas, 40 x 30 cm |
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| E.M.C. Collard, g.p.t.s.t.s.n. x, 2015, Öl auf Leinwand, oil on canvas |
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| E.M.C. Collard, strawberry medley, 2014, oil on canvas, 65 x 50 cm |
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| E.M.C. Collard, g.p.t.s.t.s.n. nup coodle, 2018, oil on canvas, 40 x 30 cm |
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| E.M.C. Collard, g.p.t.s.t.s.n. hairy twist, 2018, oil on canvas, 40 x 30 cm |
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| View of "Something huge, something major, something great and disastrous" |
Brian Tennessee Claflin, Mumbai, 2002/2018, recorded text fragment, 2ʹ14″, voice: Jasper Siverts
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| View of "Something huge, something major, something great and disastrous" |
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| View of "Something huge, something major, something great and disastrous" |
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| View of "Something huge, something major, something great and disastrous" |
Brian Tennessee Clafl in, Berlin, 2012(?)/2018, recorded text fragment, 0ʹ58″, voice: Jasper Siverts
GSL Projekt is pleased to present the duo show ‘Something huge, something major, something great and disastrous’, an installation juxtaposing new and recent paintings by E.M.C. Collard with unpublished texts from the estate of late writer and artist Brian Tennessee Claflin.
E.M.C. Collard showed small and medium-sized works on canvas from the series ‘g.p.t.s.t.s.n.’ (‘a genealogy of plants that stand in the shade at night’). The series of botanical still lifes, which has been ongoing since 2014, takes its inspiration from traditional Victorian illustrations of floral themes, as well as the work of botanists such as John Day and Maria Sibylla Merian.
Rather than relying on photographic documentation, Collard’s intuitive process is rooted in memory and imagination, with many of these floral creations blooming into entirely new hybrids. Collard’s flowers are strangely inhabited, evoking the metaphysical state of panpsychism and imbuing the works with a bewitching mystical aura.
The exhibition furthermore presented texts by the late Brian Tennessee Claflin. In addition to his work as a visual artist and nightlife promoter, Claflin crafted a number of autobiographical textual works that will be made accessible to the public for the first time.
Claflin often collaborated with other artists, and the exhibition will serve as a posthumous continuation of that impulse. While Claflin and Collard were friends and admirers of each other’s work, they did not get a chance to collaborate before Claflin’s untimely death in 2014 – until now: During the exhibition two of Claflin’s fragmentary writings were presented in the form of a sound installation, with additional of his texts published in an accompanying publication, along with further images from Collard’s ‘g.p.t.s.t.s.n.’ series and an essay by Joshua Branciforte.