I’m Trying to Explain at L21 Gallery

Artists: Martin Creed, Joshua Abelow, Deconstructie, James Viscardi, Nuria Fuster, Josep Maynou, Valérian Goalec, James Ulmer, Szabolcs Bozo, Jenna Westra, Sophie Vallance, Nicolás Lamas, Hannah Fitz, Valerie Krause

Exhibition title: I’m Trying to Explain

Venue: L21 Gallery, Mallorca, Spain

Date: March 16 – May 10, 2019

Photography: all images copyright and courtesy of the artists, L21, Hauser & Wirth, Bombon Projects, Meessen de Clercq and Bahamas Biennale

“I’m Trying to Explain” is a curatorial project by L21 that starts from the apparently absurd actions that take place in the displayed videos by Martin Creed and Josep Maynou.

It is a group exhibition in which explanations are not possible in the first place. This futile attempt to explain what the title makes reference to generates a confusion akin to a blast wave that fills both exhibition rooms and is the result of the cohabitation of different plastic languages and the posing of questions without an answer.

Contradictions mark the rhythm of the exhibition: the night and the day look to each other in James Ulmer’s paintings, the flowers can not be watered in Hannah Fitz’s sculpture, a helmet protects ideas embedded in a sponge in the work by Nicolás Lamas… The videos give structure to the content of this show, with a great presence of sculpture and installation as mediums that allow to redefine space.

Exhibition in collaboration with Hauser & Wirth, Bombon Projects, Meessen de Clercq and Bahamas Biennale.

I’m Trying to Explain, 2019, installation view at L21 Gallery, Mallorca

James Ulmer, Day Walk, 2019, Flashe on canvas, 162×130 cm

James Ulmer, Night Walk, 2019, Flashe on canvas, 162×130 cm

Valérian Goalec, Coffee table and container 1, 2019, Cardboard box, stainless steel container, 79x39x34 cm

I’m Trying to Explain, 2019, installation view at L21 Gallery, Mallorca

Nuria Fuster, Then everything clicks into place, things are strangely familiar, 2018, Printed photography on Canson Baryta paper, 120 x 80 cm

I’m Trying to Explain, 2019, installation view at L21 Gallery, Mallorca

Nuria Fuster, Untitled, 2012, Iron and stools, 250x90x30 cm

Jenna Westra, Rhetoric of an Image, 2015, Digital print on Hahnemühle paper, 52×42 cm

I’m Trying to Explain, 2019, installation view at L21 Gallery, Mallorca

Valerie Krause, Anlandung, 2010, Plaster, iron, Unique piece, 80x78x57 cm

I’m Trying to Explain, 2019, installation view at L21 Gallery, Mallorca

Jenna Westra, Parts of Some Quartet 1, 2018, Digital print on Hahnemühle paper, 52×42 cm

Valérian Goalec, Coffee table and container 2, 2019, Cardboard box, stainless steel container, 55x32x34 cm

I’m Trying to Explain, 2019, installation view at L21 Gallery, Mallorca

Valérian Goalec, P.A. N°44 3/10 4/10, Acrylic on cotton, 169×208 cm

I’m Trying to Explain, 2019, installation view at L21 Gallery, Mallorca

Hannah Fitz, Flower Shelf, 2018, Steel, card, plater, epoxy, coloured acrylic resin, 180x33x165 cm

I’m Trying to Explain, 2019, installation view at L21 Gallery, Mallorca

Josep Maynou, Untitled 2016 2017, 2016-2017, Video, ed. 21/50, 5’60’’

I’m Trying to Explain, 2019, installation view at L21 Gallery, Mallorca

Sophie Vallance, Lonely at the Beach, 2019, Oil and charcoal on canvas, 160x160cm

I’m Trying to Explain, 2019, installation view at L21 Gallery, Mallorca

Nicolás Lamas, Posthuman condition, 2018, Hockey helmet, natural sponge, 29x28x26 cm

I’m Trying to Explain, 2019, installation view at L21 Gallery, Mallorca

Joshua Abelow, Call Me Abstract (F1), 2011, Oil on linen, 40,5×30,5 cm

Deconstructie, Untitled, 2019, Wall paint on wall remotely painted via strict instructions

Jenna Westra, Ladder, Legs, Lemon, 2015, Digital print on Hahnemühle paper, 55×41 cm

Szabolcs Bozo, C.XL.001, 2018, Acrylic, pastel, oil bar and oil on canvas, 250×200 cm

I’m Trying to Explain, 2019, installation view at L21 Gallery, Mallorca

James Viscardi, City Slicker, 2019, Mixed media, fabric on Walnut Wood, 175×125 cm

I’m Trying to Explain, 2019, installation view at L21 Gallery, Mallorca

Martin Creed, Work No. 2811. What The Fuck Am I Doing?, 2017, Digital film 4’ 21’’

I’m Trying to Explain, 2019, installation view at L21 Gallery, Mallorca