Gabriel Braun
»Pin Board«
I do remember very well my aunt's old kitchen. My grandfather used to sit on his corner bench spending his days eating, sleeping and admonishing his grand children to be decent and quiet. Meanwhile, my aunt would be chopping vegetables or meat, or stirring something in one of her big cooking pots on the gas oven. Next to the oven used to be a pin board. My aunt ran a hotel in the country side. And most of her guests sent postcards after they have returned back home. Almost all of them saying how much they are missing the food and the quietness and the excellent air quality. I always enjoyed reading the yellowish postcards dotted with daubs of butter and various sauces. Furthermore, my aunt collected recipes, receipts, addresses, drawings and Christmas cards. One could spend a whole afternoon going through all the layers of my aunt’s pin board collection.
You’ll find layers of remembrance on most pin boards. Even though, Gabriel Braun doesn’t collect physical evidence of memories, his work is about remembrance. Since he began building sculptures, he is exploring the boundaries between abstract and concrete art, in order to explore the possibilities of abstraction: At what point does an abstract painting or sculpture stop being a collection of memorabilia? If one doesn’t recollect personal memories when observing Gabriel Brauns new work, there are definitely art historical references to be evoked. Form, colour and material always play an eminent role. The geometric abstraction of Braun‘s work is influenced by the 20th century constructivism and Bauhaus School. His new, large scale wood objects show monochromatic geometric forms on a black grid. With their blocks in different shapes and colours they look like toys for giant children.
Braun’s risograph prints served as a basis for the sculptures. On some prints, geometric forms appear to be stacked right up to the edges of the paper. On others the neatly arranged triangles, rectangles and circles remind of letter cases. They might be stuffed with miniatures of tourist sights, stones and feathers.
Text by
Lois Fleves
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Gabriel Braun »Pin Board»
Opening Fri 18 May 6 - 9 pm
18 May - 2 Jun 2018
Thu - Sat 2 - 6 pm
frontviews
Tucholskystraße 37
10117 Berlin
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Gabriel Braun