Dead End Galaxies at EXILE and Polansky Gallery

Artists: Angelika Loderer, Bitsy Knox, Christophe de Rohan Chabot, Core.Pan, Hanny Oldendorf, Nicholas Riis, Phillip Mueller, Real Madrid, Studio Furthermore, Erik Niedling, Jura Shust, Pakui Hardware, Patrick Panetta, Paul Sochacki, Sarah Pichlkostner, Sarah Schönfeld

Exhibition title: Dead End Galaxies

Curated by: Marlies Wirth and Christian Siekmeier

Venue: EXILE, Berlin, Germany, Polansky Gallery, Prague, The Czech Republic

Date: March 10 – April 14, 2018

Photography: all images copyright and courtesy of the artists, EXILE, Berlin and Polansky Gallery, Prague

For the lack of better knowledge galaxies are infinite, endless spaces, which will always offer an ever so imaginary escapist niche, somewhere. Such magical spheres where Siri or Alexa are just poetically named starlets, where a ‘Hello Alexa’ remains unanswered, where there is silence beyond entrenching reason.

The longing to escape to such a non-defined, free space is as ancient as contemporary relevant. In times of seemingly endless reason, it remains the ultimate desire, yet ultimately results in a dead end. No form of contemporary escapism can any longer provide an idealized, naïve notion of a lost paradise. Escapism is at its end as it is en vouge. Parallelism or Internalism can provide relief yet, in the very end, it is the here and now.

Anyone who has thought about parallel universes will know that it is hard to figure out which one of them is ‘real’. The denominators of what we call ‘reality’ have become blurred, a new flexibility of ‘truth’ rules even over the galaxy we currently reside in. The ‘fake-news’ of the day is poking holes in the sensitive skin of our very own filter-bubbles and within the blink of an eye your day can vault you into the ‘upside-down’.

Maybe it is time to travel. Where could we go from here?

‘Introspection’ is the new long distance journey, as we slide through the endless feed of information and images that busy algorithms have chosen for our fingers to scroll through: A gentle touch, a ‘reaction’ of sorts – like staring into the abyss of binary code.

The afterimage of a world seen from outer space, the alienation of the self and ‘the other’ in a dense habitat we share with the digital

creatures of our own making. Looking at the remainders of the world we produce and consume, light years filled with the human trace of artificial goods, it is time to enter the void.

The inscription of a seminal painting by the French artist Paul Gauguin reads “Where Do We Come From? What Are We? Where Are We Going?” (P. Gauguin / 1897), a question still unaccounted for as of today. A promise has been made, and for the longest time it remains unfulfilled.

Dead End Galaxies is a single exhibition running parallel across two different cities connected via a time tunnel.

Opening: Sat, Mar 10
Dead End Galaxies at EXILE, Berlin
Artists: Angelika Loderer, Bitsy Knox, Christophe de Rohan Chabot, Core.Pan, Hanny Oldendorf, Nicholas Riis, Phillip Mueller, Real Madrid, and Studio Furthermore.

Opening: Sat, Mar 17
Dead End Galaxies at POLANSKY, Prague
Artists: Bitsy Knox, Christophe de Rohan Chabot, Erik Niedling, Jura Shust, Pakui Hardware, Patrick Panetta, Paul Sochacki, Sarah Pichlkostner, and Sarah Schönfeld.

Dead End Galaxies is curated by Marlies Wirth, Curator for Digital Culture and Design at MAK Vienna, and Christian Siekmeier, EXILE.

Dead End Galaxies, 2018. Installation view, Polansky Gallery, Prague

Christophe De Rohan Chabot: Untitled/(Film Complet Le Casanova de Fellini bivx Fr+Eng 1976 Donald Sutherland, Tina Aumont-You Tube), 2018. Digital print on aluminum behind plexi and glass, 90 x 90 x 3 cm

Hanny Oldendorf: Beach View, 2018, Archival pigment print on canvas, UV lacquer, wooden frame with sisal twine, 153 x 24 x 10 cm

Dead End Galaxies, 2018. Installation view, EXILE, Berlin

Studio Furthermore: Replica, 2018, Ceramic terracotta foam, aluminum casts, 32 x 20 x 20 cm

Studio Furthermore: Replica, 2018, Ceramic terracotta foam, aluminum casts, 32 x 11 x 11 cm

Studio Furthermore: Replica, 2018, Ceramic terracotta foam, aluminum casts, 32 x 28 x 28 cm

Studio Furthermore: Replica, 2018, Ceramic terracotta foam, aluminum casts, 32 x 20 x 20 cm

Dead End Galaxies, 2018. Installation view, Polansky Gallery, Prague

Jura Shust: Exo Oblivion, 2015, Granite, eggs, steel egg cups, broken wine and beer bottles, Scorpion motorcycle helmets, 206 x 52 x 35 cm, 160 x 63 x 37 cm & 192 x 55 x 40 cm

Dead End Galaxies, 2018. Installation view, Polansky Gallery, Prague

Paul Sochacki: Le Monde est un Portrait, 2017, Oil on canvas, 145 x 100 cm

Paul Sochacki: Le Monde est un Portrait, 2017, Oil on canvas, 115 x 77 cm

Paul Sochacki: Le Monde est un Portrait, 2017, Oil on canvas, 61 x 45 cm

Paul Sochacki: Le Monde est un Portrait, 2017, Oil on canvas, 48 x 39 cm

Dead End Galaxies, 2018. Installation view, EXILE, Berlin

Core.pan: DNN being visualized II, 2018, Printed & laser cut acrylic PMMA, crystal cement, led lighting &tv mural stand, 63 x 21 x 15 cm

Angelika Loderer: Quiet Fonts, 2017, Metal, brass & various sands, various dimensions. Courtesy Sophie Tappeiner, Vienna

Dead End Galaxies, 2018. Installation view, Polansky Gallery, Prague

Sarah Schönfeld: Shamanistic Travel Equipment / Coat XVI, 2017, UV print on cowhide, 246 x 210 cm

Erik Niedling: Future 12/30/16, 2016, Tin, lead, 36.5 x 41 x 8.5 cm

Pakui Hardware: On Demand IV, 2017, Glazed ceramics and neon, 23 x 24 x 30 cm

Erik Niedling: Future 12/27/16, 2016, Tin, lead, 24.5 x 17.5 x 18 cm

Erik Niedling: Future 01/19/17, 2017, Tin, lead, 8 x 53 x 18.5 cm

Pakui Hardware: On Demand V, 2017, 23 x 24 x 30 cm

Erik Niedling: Future 01/20/17, 2017, Tin, lead, 22.5 x 23 x 8.5 cm

Dead End Galaxies, 2018. Installation view, Polansky Gallery, Prague

Bitsy Knox: Untitled, 2014, Photocopy on A3 colored paper

Bitsy Knox: Untitled, 2014, Photocopy on A3 colored paper

Dead End Galaxies, 2018. Installation view, Polansky Gallery, Prague

Sarah Pichlkostner: KUY calls KAY: oh darling, we flying to the moon we need to save weight, 2017. Aluminum, silver-plated glass, strap, metal suspension, 68 x 200 x 395 cm. Courtesy of Galerie Hubert Winter, Vienna

Dead End Galaxies, 2018. Installation view, EXILE, Berlin

Philip Mueller: Nisyros Krater, 2017, Oil on canvas, 50 x 40 cm, Courtesy Carbon 12, Dubai

Nicholas Riis: Whooba Rosie, 2018, Polystyrene, wax, epoxy, glass fibre, felt, wool, latex, fabrics, pearls, hip protectors, plastic rope, 53 x 64 x 125 cm

Nicholas Riis: Durachew, 2018, Polystyrene, wax, epoxy, glass fibre, felt, wool, latex, fabric, pearls, rope, hip protectors, cardboard, plastic, fur, 55 x 57 x 130 cm

Philip Mueller: Faraglioni Tiberio, 2018
Oil on canvas, 190 x 180 cm, Courtesy Carbon 12, Dubai

Dead End Galaxies, 2018. Installation view, Polansky Gallery, Prague

Patrick Fabian Panetta: Dead End Galaxies, 2018, Two-channel video, 8′ 30”

Patrick Fabian Panetta: Dead End Galaxies, 2018, Two-channel video, 8′ 30”

Dead End Galaxies, 2018. Installation view, EXILE, Berlin

Hanny Oldendorf: Beach View, 2016, Archival pigment print on canvas, UV lacquer, wooden frame, 253 x 183 x 12 cm

Hanny Oldendorf: Beach View, 2016, Archival pigment print on canvas, UV lacquer, wooden frame with coco twine, candles, epoxy resin, 85 x 105 x 12 cm

Real Madrid: You make the program for life, you make the program, 2017, Glass, various dimensions

Bitsy Knox: Untitled, 2014, Photocopy on A3 colored paper

Bitsy Knox: Untitled, 2014, Photocopy on A3 colored paper

Christoph De Rohan Chabot: Untitled/(Film Complet Le Casanova de Fellini bivx Fr+Eng 1976 Donald Sutherland, Tina Aumont-You Tube), 2018. Digital print on aluminum behind  glass, 90 x 90 x 3 cm

Dead End Galaxies, 2018. Installation view, EXILE, Berlin