Artist Talk
Yonamine in conversation with Dr. Elisabeth Klotz and Matteo Calla
Saturday, 26 November 2022, 4:30 pm
Galerie Michael Janssen, Berlin
On the occasion of the Charlottenwalk on 26 November, we invite you to the Artist Talk at 4:30 pm at Galerie Michael Janssen, Bleibtreustr. 1, 10623 Berlin.
Yonamine (1975 Luanda) will be in conversation with art historian Dr. Elisabeth Klotz* and journalist Matteo Calla*. Afterwards, the conversation can be continued over buttered pretzels and "Glühwein".
"To be or to become an artist, meant to me turning into a person and rediscovering my identity." (Yonamine, 2022)
Through his wide range of works - collage, installation, painting, photography, film, and performance - Angola-born artist Yonamine (b. 1975) explores the postcolonial history of his African origins and places them in a common resonant space with contemporary Western-influenced cultural phenomena.
For his current exhibition PARLA_MUTE - "parliament without a voice" - an expression for an authoritarian, military regime in which the opinions of the people are suppressed - Yonamine returns to his pressing questions about cultural identity. He "took over" the gallery space for several weeks, transforming it into a place where themes of beauty and identity, recalled in posters from urban life, combine with critical world political statements - "It's expensive to be poor" or the World Food Program "Organize or Starve". The performative act of overlaying, tearing, and imprinting the pictorial works creates word and image contexts that are disorienting and what Yonamine calls "schizography or poetic terrorism".
The artist portfolio includes visuals of the artist's exhibition and work, as well as a list of selected solo and group exhibitions. Essays by Karina Abdusalamova and Dr. José L. Falconi provide interesting insights into Yonamine's art practice.
*
Dr. Elisabeth Klotz is a curator, author and lecturer. In addition to teaching positions at the University of Erfurt and the Hochschule für Gestaltung in Karlsruhe, she is active in the mediation of the Palais Populaire and regularly curates the "Doppelhaushälfte" in Berlin.
*
The Italian-Canadian journalist Matteo Calla, graduated from Cornell University, USA, with a PhD thesis on Walter Benjamin. Apart from various teaching activities in the USA and Canada, he also publishes regularly on topics related to literature, art, and cultural studies.
We look forward to a stimulating afternoon and to welcoming you to our gallery in Berlin!
