Artist: David Jablonowski
Exhibition title: Stone-Carving High Performance
Venue: DASH, Kortrijk, Belgium
Date: November 10 – December 10, 2017
Photography: Alexandra Colmenares, all images copyright and courtesy of the artist and DASH, Kortrijk
What can an artist add to contemporary sculpture? What is material when everything becomes volatile? How current can a sculptor work without leaving the tradition behind? David Jablonowski concentrates on key questions about the nature of sculpture and its communication potential, the power of communication and what it does to the spectator.
Jablonowski is praised for his ingenious play with various materials. He often refers to the rich history of art, he uses a certain classical archaic visual language, although his work has a very contemporary look. The use of high-tech materials gives his work the same appearance as the well-known classic noble sculpture materials (such as marble and copper). He investigates the technological possibilities and tensions of the different materials. It is not uncommon for him to put the viewer on the wrong foot with materials that seem heavy but are light. Because of his way of combining and presenting his works get the feel of relics.
The surrounding space, floor pattern and light incidence determine the perception of the artwork. You are, as it were, drawn into the exhibition, where viewing spaces within the works lead you to the next object. Jablonowski manages the space and uses it in a perfect setting. The sometimes architectural details, the design feeling moderate a perfect scenography. His hierarchical arrangement of the works takes you through the exhibition, where each object receives the required attention.
You do not have to know the content of his works, the work of David Jablonowski touches you in the first instance by a pure beauty. The key question he asks us: how and what can material communicate?
David Jablonowski (1982, Bochum) moved from Germany to Amsterdam in 2007, where he graduated from the Gerrit Rietveld Academy and participated in the De Ateliers studio program until 2009. In 2011 he participated in the International Studio & Curatorial Program in New York.
Recent solo exhibitions were at Markus Lüttgen, Cologne; Kunsthalle Baden-Baden; Kunsthalle Lingen; Gallery Fons Welters, Amsterdam; Gemeentemuseum The Hague. His work was also shown in various group exhibitions such as the Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam; Witte de With, Rotterdam; SALTS, Birsfelden; De Vleeshal, Middelburg; ZKM, Karlsruhe. In addition, the group exhibition Change the System is on view at the Museum Boijmans van Beuningen, Rotterdam.
