Malene Birger, Florian Baudrexel and Beat Zoderer

25 May-2 Jun 2024

Florian Baudrexel, Cardbird (CB-30, Orange), 2022

Overview

Bartha_contemporary and Wellwood Gallery are pleased to announce a joint exhibition featuring recent works by Danish artist Malene Birger, represented by Wellwood Gallery. The exhibition will also showcase selected reliefs by German artist Florian Baudrexel and paintings by Swiss artist Beat Zoderer, inviting a dialogue between the works of three artists, each presenting a distinctly modernist aesthetic.

The acclaimed fashion designer, known for her uncompromising style and Scandinavian sensibility, will exhibit a series of recent paintings. Their strong graphical appearance and monochromatic colour pallet are informed by the artist’s experience as a self-proclaimed nomad. Here, the artist’s ability to bring storytelling into a modernist context is motivated by her travels and encounters. Indeed, the ebb and flow of her life is reflected in the often highly textured and layered works. 

Florian Baudrexel’s ongoing cardbirds series offers a similar approach. Embracing the formal language of modernism, the artist constructs sculptural forms from individual elements made from discarded cardboard packaging. The self-coloured works employ a strong geometric vocabulary, subverted by printed text or marks and wear from their former use. The play between found materials and the notion of ready-made and architectural forms unite to create engaging sculptures that suggest movement.

‍Similarly, Beat Zoderer’s paintings are also constructed in a layered approach that articulates linear, wedge-like bars of colour that traverse over the picture plane; as one angular shape ends, the next reverses, either in a closely stacked zig-zag that pushes to the edge of the work or evolves at different angles, influenced solely by the artist’s inherent understanding of composition. Zoderer’s distinct colour pallet is loosely applied, resulting in opaque layers of colour.  The works suggest a space that reflects an idiosyncratic painting approach, reflecting the artist’s interest in sculptural form. 

‍This collaborative exhibition offers an opportunity to experience works by European artists in a concise presentation. The showcase will be on view by appointment from Saturday, May 25, until Sunday, June 2nd. An open day is scheduled for Saturday, May 25, from Noon to 4 PM.