Artist: Florian Neufeldt
Exhibition title: Stray Currents
Venue: The Gallery Apart, Rome, Italy
Date: February 25 – April 29, 2017
Photography: all images copyright and courtesy of the artist and The Gallery Apart
The Gallery Apart is proud to present STRAY CURRENTS, the third solo show hosted in the Gallery’s spaces by Florian Neufeldt, German artist based in Berlin. Neufeldt carries on his research on the relationships between architectures, objects and matter, a path based on the idea of space, particularly with regard to mental space. The works by Neufeldt, indeed, are the result of a process of deconstruction and reconstruction which mostly takes place at thought level, starting from the evocative impressions offered to the artist by the expressive potential he himself sees in imagining the transformations to which he submits the objects used as starting points for his sculptures.
The objets trouvés that make up the artist’s imaginary are not collected, selected and used as found objects, but as matter capable of being transformed. Neufeldt is interested in the identity of the selected object and in the identity of the new shape he donates to that object, identities that are linked by a line differential which saves the memory of the previous object and, at the same time, creates a new shape provided with a strong power of abstraction. They are two halves of the same whole that finds its completion first in the visual and then in the mental perception. And this creates a vicious circle: the work comes to life in the artist’s mind and passes through the transformation of the matter, it is captured by the beholders’ eye to end its journey in their mind.
STRAY CURRENTS deals indeed with the way everyday use objects are perceived, particularly exploring their relationship with energy, in the form of electric energy, when they are processed and modified so as to become conductor devices throughout which current flows, and which partly is dispersed into the environment. The works on display are connected with the Gallery’s electrical system, so that the activation or deactivation of the electrical current directly influences their essence as inert objects, that is their being conductors. The work is therefore activated in this function of energy conduction, in a symbolic and also material sense.
Alongside the sculptures, Neufeldt arranges a series of black and white photographic images originated from the transformation of objects (chairs) and from their use as conductors of energy. The artist, in this case as well, starts from the sculptures through which electricity flows, electricity that goes to the projector in order to throw the image on the wall. After having photographed the sculptures, these are given back to their original shape and function as chairs. At this point the photo captures the sculptures to which the artist assigns an ephemeral destiny, although renewed by using seats and seatbacks created with insulating material. The outcome is a hybrid artwork, since each picture contributes to compose along with the chair a complete work that involves and includes in itself sculpture, photography and video. A practice that highlights the importance of the art-making process to the artist in order to underline the element that characterizes its genesis: thought.
Florian Neufeldt, Ground (So you grab a piece of something that you think is going to last), 2017, installation, handrail, cable, environmental dimensions, courtesy The Gallery Apart, Rome
Florian Neufeldt, Ground (So you grab a piece of something that you think is going to last), 2017, installation, handrail, cable, environmental dimensions, (details) , courtesy The Gallery Apart, Rome
Florian Neufeldt, Ground (So you grab a piece of something that you think is going to last), 2017, installation, handrail, cable, environmental dimensions, (details) , courtesy The Gallery Apart, Rome
Florian Neufeldt, Stray Currents, installation view at The Gallery Apart (ground floor)
Florian Neufeldt, Stray Currents, installation view at The Gallery Apart (ground floor)
Florian Neufeldt, Stray Currents, installation view at The Gallery Apart (ground floor)
Florian Neufeldt, Live Wires #1, 2017, black and white photo on dibond, framed without glass, (cm 60 x 40), chair (cm 80 x 40 x 50), courtesy The Gallery Apart, Rome
Florian Neufeldt, Live Wires #1, 2017, black and white photo on dibond, framed without glass, (cm 60 x 40), chair (cm 80 x 40 x 50), courtesy The Gallery Apart, Rome
Florian Neufeldt, Stray Currents, installation view at The Gallery Apart, Rome(basement)
Florian Neufeldt, Stray Currents, installation view at The Gallery Apart, Rome(basement)
Florian Neufeldt, Stray Currents, installation view at The Gallery Apart, Rome(basement)
Florian Neufeldt, Stray Currents, installation view at The Gallery Apart, Rome(basement)
Florian Neufeldt, Stray currents #1, 2017, metal box, LED-panel (cm 59,2 x 59,2), transformer, cable, steel wire, cm 37 x 65,5 x 45,5, courtesy The Gallery Apart, Rome
Florian Neufeldt, Stray currents #1, 2017, metal box, LED-panel (cm 59,2 x 59,2), transformer, cable, steel wire, cm 37 x 65,5 x 45,5, courtesy The Gallery Apart, Rome
Florian Neufeldt, Stray currents #2, 2017, table racks, LED-panel (cm 59,2 x 59,2), driver, cable, steel wire, cm 78 x 43 x 41,5, courtesy The Gallery Apart, Rome
Florian Neufeldt, Stray currents #3, 2017, table racks, LED-panel (cm 59,2 x 59,2), driver, cable, steel wire, cm 75,7 x 21 x 59,7, courtesy The Gallery Apart, Rome
Florian Neufeldt, Stray currents #4, 2017, chair structure, LED-panel (cm 59,2 x 59,2), driver, cable, steel wire, cm 8 x 50 x 43,5, courtesy The Gallery Apart, Rome
Florian Neufeldt, Stray currents #5, 2017, table racks, LED-panel (cm 59,2 x 59,2), driver, cable, steel wire, cm 29 x 27,4 x 26,5, courtesy The Gallery Apart, Rome