9.3.-14.4.07

Both Com&Com (Gossolt/Hedinger), and Thomas G. work on interfaces of art and media. While Com&Com consequently scrutinises the media and dupes, Thomas G. works with medial finds, which he follows up in various ways. Produced is an actual media exhibition, even if the visualised form consists of painting and drawing. Both work complexes shown have neither content wise nor formally to do with each other. Nonetheless a relation in artistic conduct can be felt, this does operate positively on the whole exhibition.

For the first time Com&Com shows a larger group of works from their abstract painting. ‹The Big One› is a trans medial art project made of film, photography, painting, music and installation and conducts an aesthetic conversation between picture, room, sound and movement, as well as between abstraction and reality. The short motion film ‹The Big One› consisted to approx. 80% „road movie like“, real movie sequence and 20% abstract digital animation – a nice conversion of reality and dream world. The abstract digital animations established a basis for the painting; the colours and forms of animations generated themselves from the particular precedent real movie scenes and their statement. In incomparable technique they have realised spherical work and created a special contribution to the discourse of painting. Com&Com (Johannes M. Hedinger and Marcus Gossolt) continue the medial extrapolation of their work with directed painting. Created are works, lavishly produced in airbrush technique acryl on canvas, that seem monumental and fragile at the same time.

Thomas G. is Master of the “Found Footage”. By use of intense research he discovered drawings, created by prisoners during their prison sentence. The drawings came from prisoners of different cultural backgrounds and eras. The oldest, from Nasta Rojc traced back to war captivity during WW II. A series from the seventies were produced by members of the Manson family; Patricia Krenwinkel, Leslie van Houten und Charles Manson himself. Those are followed by several drawings from John W. Gacy, who earned his living as a clown. The newest drawings from the last couple of years, all void of title and personal data, relate to political captivity and “9/11”. Thomas G. reproduced these works in a collection of drawings and selected 33 sheets for the suspension “The Prison Drawings”. Through the contextual transfer the work gets newly loaded. In the sense of “Appropriation Art“ he has redrawn the prisoners works – accrued is an impressive series that allows one to catch a glimpse into the depths of human existence.

Bernhard Bischoff, March 2007