Art Plural Gallery presents the solo exhibition of Portuguese Berlin-based artist Adriana Molder. The exhibition unveils two new series The Light in the Heart and Mystery.
Born in 1975 in Lisbon, Adriana Molder has developed a unique body of work consisting of black and white portraits using India ink on tracing paper. Inspired by iconic figures mostly taken from films, Adriana Molder continues to incorporate in her work various references from literature to existing histories, old masters paintings and random images found in magazines. Cinematographic repertoire always plays an important role in her work as the depicted characters seem to unfold a narrative and express themselves beyond their static portrayal position. Indeed, Adriana Molder’s inverted artistic codes interrogate the viewer: a black textural background and a white flat foreground, animated portraits, renew the field of drawing and lay an uncanny depth in each artwork.
Usually organized by series, Molder’s portraits demand full attention and time from the viewer. Transformed into detectives, spectators are led to discover the different layers of ink in which the faces seem to be immersed and learn about the characters contained inside each face. Finally in a direct confrontation, the viewer can recognize oneself in each portrait as if a mirror was placed in front of him. Adriana Molder questions the concept of recognition: from when can you pretend to know someone? “I have always liked to see shrines of images in films, either heteroclite as in the 400 Blows, or intensely obsessive, like the ones found by the police in the rooms of psycho killers” the artist says. Indeed her portraits have a certain intensity and obsessive allure.
In this exhibition, two new series are featured. The Light in the Heart (2014) is composed of six paintings, representing an important evolution in Adriana Molder’s aesthetics as she has long been focusing on drawings. Furthermore, these latest works open to colours whereas the artist has always been using black, white and touches of red. In The Light in the Heart, black and white foregrounds make a strong contrast with neon colours and vivid red. These portraits’ starting point is the last sentence of Virginia Woolf’s short story The Haunted House. As in Woolf’s text, lost love and death form one of the major themes of Adriana Molder’s series. The Light in the Heart explores “traces of different characters” that the artist came across, as well as their lively presence and the persistence of their love and lust for life.
Mystery, the second series, comprises of six small-scale India ink drawings on watercolour paper in black and white tones with notes of red, in continuation with the artist’s traditional aesthetics. They are portraits of women, “either in a position of watching something or being themselves the target of some kind of witnessing”. For these drawings, the artist was inspired by 1940’s suspense movies and by collages she did with photographs found in a collection of French film magazines from the 1930’s. Indeed, photography is highly linked to Molder’s artistic language. Offering a personified snapshot of a moment or a reality, the artist leads the viewer to the understanding of the complexity of human nature.
“We are delighted to welcome Adriana Molder’s solo exhibition at Third Floor, Art Plural Gallery. Her mysterious artworks have always fascinated me and triggered reveries. She has an amazing technique that has made her work very unique in today’s contemporary art scene. This exhibition is also in dialogue with our newest publication - Art Plural, Voices of Contemporary Art, featuring Adriana Molder.” –Frédéric de Senarclens, founder and director of Art Plural Gallery.
Image: © Adriana Molder
Courtesy of the artist and Art Plural Gallery
