Artists: Melisa Sabir and Abel Auer
Exhibition title: Komorbide Monde
Venue: KIRCHGASSE, Steckborn, Switzerland
Date: May 22 – August 7, 2022
Photography: images copyright and courtesy of the artists and KIRCHGASSE, Steckborn
A fragile time loop runs through the virtual corpus of the exhibition Komorbide Monde. The works by Melisa Sabir and Abel Auer generate intertwined connections of recurring times and carefully mark incisions that suspend common narratives of art (history). Between fiction and reality, the past and the present, here, as an intuitive form of thought, painting opens up access to a twilight zone. Their works refer to the advent of new styles and themes that can be understood as a direct reaction to social events and upheavals.
Melisa Sabir cites a cubist-surreal vision of figural expression in her depictions of fragmented bodies. She expands motifs such as distorting, merging and knotting to include contemporary dimensions of violation and interconnectedness.
Abel Auer sees in his work a referential shift from psychedelically decadent neo-symbolism to a new form of expressionism. His cloud paintings, hitherto an expression of contemplative rising, now appear threatening – they are filled with thunderstorm data of our time, which could overflow with a single drop.
Both artists accumulate knowledge, matter and colour to form figures that, in their density, reveal that art can become a seismograph of their respective contemporary affairs.
Melisa Sabir (*1996) is an artist and writer. Abel Auer (*1974) is an artist and professor at HfBK Hamburg.
Melisa Sabir, Eine Millisekunde im Bewusstsein, Ink on Paper, Framed, 41.5 × 29.5 cm, 2021 / Photo: Cedric Mussano / Courtesy: the artists and Kirchgasse Gallery
Melisa Sabir & Abel Auer, installation view at Kirchgasse Gallery, 2022 / Photo: Cedric Mussano / Courtesy: the artists and Kirchgasse Gallery
Melisa Sabir & Abel Auer, Die Mültitude, Acryl and Oil on Canvas, 125 × 120 cm, 2022 / Photo: Cedric Mussano / Courtesy: the artists and Kirchgasse Gallery
Abel Auer, 4 D, Acryl and Oil on Canvas, 70 × 60 cm, 2022 / Photo: Cedric Mussano / Courtesy: the artists and Kirchgasse Gallery
Melisa Sabir & Abel Auer, installation view at Kirchgasse Gallery, 2022 / Photo: Cedric Mussano / Courtesy: the artists and Kirchgasse Gallery
Melisa Sabir, Sphärenblick, Oil on Canvas, 90 × 85 cm, 2022 / Photo: Cedric Mussano / Courtesy: the artists and Kirchgasse Gallery
Melisa Sabir, untitled, Oil on Canvas, 90 × 50 cm, 2021 / Photo: Cedric Mussano / Courtesy: the artists and Kirchgasse Gallery
Melisa Sabir & Abel Auer, installation view at Kirchgasse Gallery, 2022 / Photo: Cedric Mussano / Courtesy: the artists and Kirchgasse Gallery
Melisa Sabir, Prozesse, Oil on Canvas, 135 × 135 cm, 2021 / Photo: Cedric Mussano / Courtesy: the artists and Kirchgasse Gallery
Melisa Sabir & Abel Auer, installation view at Kirchgasse Gallery, 2022 / Photo: Cedric Mussano / Courtesy: the artists and Kirchgasse Gallery
Abel Auer, Rote Maske, Acryl and Oil on Canvas, 45 × 55 cm, 2021 / Photo: Cedric Mussano / Courtesy: the artists and Kirchgasse Gallery
Melisa Sabir & Abel Auer, installation view at Kirchgasse Gallery, 2022 / Photo: Cedric Mussano / Courtesy: the artists and Kirchgasse Gallery
Melisa Sabir & Abel Auer, installation view at Kirchgasse Gallery, 2022 / Photo: Cedric Mussano / Courtesy: the artists and Kirchgasse Gallery
Abel Auer, Gottes Reue, Acryl and Oil on Canvas, 115 × 140 cm, 2021 / Photo: Cedric Mussano / Courtesy: the artists and Kirchgasse Gallery
Sarah Lehnerer, casting on, installation view at Kirchgasse Gallery, 2022 / Photo: Cedric Mussano / Courtesy: the artist and Kirchgasse Gallery
Melisa Sabir, Gehängsel, Oil on Canvas, 150 × 125 cm, 2020 / Photo: Cedric Mussano / Courtesy: the artist and Kirchgasse Gallery
Melisa Sabir, Die Stellvertreter, Ink on Paper, Framed, 20.5 × 29.5 cm, 2021 / Photo: Cedric Mussano / Courtesy: the artist and Kirchgasse Gallery
Sarah Lehnerer, casting on, installation view at Kirchgasse Gallery, 2022 / Photo: Cedric Mussano / Courtesy: the artist and Kirchgasse Gallery
Abel Auer, Feuerwerk im Osten, Acryl and Oil on Canvas, 150 × 180 cm, 2022 / Photo: Cedric Mussano / Courtesy: the artist and Kirchgasse Gallery
Sarah Lehnerer, casting on, installation view at Kirchgasse Gallery, 2022 / Photo: Cedric Mussano / Courtesy: the artist and Kirchgasse Gallery
Melisa Sabir & Abel Auer, Collage, Komorbide Monde, Framed, 60 × 91 cm, 2021 / Photo: Cedric Mussano / Courtesy: the artist and Kirchgasse Gallery
Abel Auer, Knowledge, Acryl and Oil on Canvas, 90 × 60 cm, 2017 / Photo: Cedric Mussano / Courtesy: the artist and Kirchgasse Gallery
Sarah Lehnerer, casting on, installation view at Kirchgasse Gallery, 2022 / Photo: Cedric Mussano / Courtesy: the artist and Kirchgasse Gallery
Melisa Sabir, Zerfall, Oil on Canvas, 180 × 130 cm, 2022 / Photo: Cedric Mussano / Courtesy: the artist and Kirchgasse Gallery
Melisa Sabir, Randomisierte Sphären Studie, Oil on Canvas, 110 × 55 cm, 2020 / Photo: Cedric Mussano / Courtesy: the artist and Kirchgasse Gallery