Jens Einhorn and Julia Colavita at Olsen Gallery
Partners in life, artists Jens Einhorn and Julia Colavita are both exhibiting at Olsen Gallery this month.
Living and working from their respective studios in Berlin, Jens works from a studio space in an empty industrial building in the heart of the city. This environment itself is influential on his work and his subject matter is particularly interested in abandoned industrialised areas which are slowly overtaken once more by nature.
Jens is fascinated by the tension and dynamic of these spaces. “People throw their junk in there, kids use it for graffiti and plants and animals find a little bit of wilderness in the urban space. For me it feels like a collage where different things come together in a strange new environment, surrounded by the context of the city.” His exhibition ‘Raw Vision’, explores this concept through a series of collage-paintings.
In stark contrast to Jens, Julia works in Neukölln, “it is a very charming and lively area with many young artists, bars, cafés cobblestone streets and a canal running through.”
Inspired by colour field painters such as Mark Rothko and Helen Frankenthaler, Julia’s paintings are playful exercises on colour in its purest form. Her exhibition, ‘Contingent Bodies’ was developed using direct applications of paint onto raw canvas, she lays her canvas on the floor and slowly pours liquid colours to stain, similar to to the techniques used in the dying of textiles. Preferring to develop her own colours, she rarely uses the palette available from a tube. This experimentation and variation of colour that Julia pursues through her intuitive mixing is integral to the process, a work is finished when it exudes a “brightness and lightness” that Julia says is all about offering viewers a sense of ease and positive emotion.
The show at Olsen is especially significant as it represents Julia’s first solo show. “After speaking with Tim Olsen, I understood what a deep understanding and appreciation for painting he has, and how much he has supported contemporary artists over the last 20 years. Every artist selected to show at Olsen reflects a very different style and subject matter which I think builds a very rich and diverse gallery program.”
The exhibitions serve to complement the other and can be seen at Olsen Gallery and its Project Space gallery until July 15.
Credits: Olsen Gallery
