“Abstract Journalism” by Thomas Jeppe
032c WORKSHOP/ Joerg Koch is pleased to present THOMAS JEPPE’s Abstract Journalism, a presentation of works that explore the contradictions embedded in a research-based art practice.
Jeppe (b. 1984, Australia) is a painter and sculptor with a background in publishing. Exploring themes of master narratives, vernacular rituals, anti-globalism, and cultures in transition, Jeppe uses formal abstraction and personal memoir as journalistic tools to introduce new perspectives on existing cultural histories. The artist describes his work as the “grinding of poetry out of reference.”
The exhibition presents Renegade Knowledge Exchange, a new series works based on the Farsi edition of Introducing Modernism: A Graphic Guide. Jeppe discovered the book in the house of the publisher’s daughter while conducting research in Iran on the Austrian architect Hans Hollein, who redesigned the Tehran Museum of Glass and Ceramics just before the revolution in 1979. (032c’s feature on Hollein in the current issue was instigated by Jeppe’s research.) In addition, a selection of the artist’s publications demonstrate his range of investigative interests, including homemade tattoos, Taiwanese tea, the 19th-century illustrator Aubrey Beardsley, seashells, and schnapps. Together, these works and books are housed under a minimalist black frame modeled after the exposed beams of Tudor-period architecture, a form ordinarily used to make visible a building’s hidden structure.
THOMAS JEPPE / ABSTRACT JOURNALISM is on view from April 4 until May 2, 2014.
Click here to see the opening scenes.
032c Workshop / Joerg Koch is an exhibition space in Berlin. Featuring an eight-meter-long vitrine designed by Konstantin Grcic, its programming includes several exhibition series, exploring the idea of the archive, the auteur, or the unseen.
032c Workshop
Brunnenstrasse 09
10119 Berlin
Open Wed.–Fri., noon to 18:00
