Galerie nüüd.berlin introduces Mathias Vef as the gallery’s new artist with the exhibition “Uncanny” opening on June 28, 2024. In his works, the artist explores the interplay of body and identity. Vef is inspired by people who look at their bodies in an experimental way. Through photography, video and 3D scans, he deconstructs these bodies and uses artificial intelligence to create new surreal works that reflect the ambiguity of being human in the age of AI and synthetic reality. These works are contrasted with works by other artists to create a multi-layered field of discussion and dialogue.
Mathias Vef explores the fascinating interplay of body and identity with the help of people who see their bodies as something fluid and moldable. For him, this fluidity is a means of human existence. Through photography, videos and 3D scans, he collects danced forms of ballet dancers, digitally manipulated bodybuilders, transpersons or portraits of sex workers, which he transforms and digitally collages with the help of chemical substances. With these embodiments, he creates fascinatingly surreal images, collages and choreographies that offer a utopian view of our existence.
artwork: Mathias Vef
Mathias Vef took an additional perspective at our existence through supposed utopias of new technologies and AI. With his Uncanny works, he comes extremely close to the synthetic, in a physical sense, but there remains an inner distance. For as fascinating as the new may seem, it often has an uncanny strangeness about it. This ambiguity, this oscillation between fascination and unease, utopia and dystopia, real and AI-generated bodies will manifest itself physically in the “Uncanny” exhibition.
In order to depict this complex field of tension, Mathias Vef has invited other artists to enter into a dialog with their works. The sculptures by Rein Vollenga add a further dimension to the utopian physicality and completely new works have been created in cooperation with the painter Olaf Hajek. Finally, the gallery is presenting the NUCA project, which has already attracted international attention, to the public for the first time: the first camera to produce live nude images. The AI-supported technology was developed together with Benedikt Groß.
artwork: Natureman by Olaf Hajek
artwork: Rein Volenga
With
Jonathan Armour, Benedikt Groß, Olaf Hajek, Deni Horvatić, Thomas Kutschker, Nicole Srock.Stanley, Rein Vollenga
Exhibition from June 28 – August 08, 2024
Open Thu – Sat, 13.00 – 19.00 h (and by appointment)
Vernissage: Thu, 27.06.2024, 18.00 h
Artist talk & guided tour through the exhibition: Fri, 26.07.2024, 18.00 h
Finissage & Artist Talk: Sat, 31.08.2024, 16.00 h