DEVOTION: THE SHOW
In my heart, sparking the flame in me
You stung my ocean
Damned devotion
(Joan As Policewoman)
Galerie-P6-Berlin is pleased to present the works of Moena Weiss, Erling Viktor, Benjamin Reding and Dominik Reding for DEVOTION: THE SHOW, opening September 8 - October 28th, 2022.
What does it mean to be devoted? The sentiment does not tread lightly on the soul, rather, with fervor. Devotion is a multi-speckled jewel: an allegiance, a mild (or major) obsession, steadfast loyalty, faith, profound dedication, conviction. The north star on a moral compass. A ‘religion‘. An eternal flame.
Devotion can unfold itself in many shades: sexuality, desire, darkness, facilitating joy, light, freedom, friendship, documentation, unearthing truths, patience, perseverance, faithfullness to one's self. In this exibition, we see through the eyes of multiple artistic positions a taste of the many facets of devotion – via photography, drawing, and painting.
Moena Joy-Dada Weiss is a Berlin-based photographer. The artist finds fascination in documenting the human environment and exploring the encounter between the camera and the subject - deeply rooted to her background in human psychology. She works mostly with portraiture, as well paints on photographs, collage and creates video installations. For her, a portrait of a person holds tremendous vulnerability; the intimacy between the photographer and her subject thus establishes a unique bond. It is mostly important for her to connect with the individuals that she will photograph upfront to earn their trust and thus allow her to uncover facets of their true selves- which may even surprise the subject themselves. These are special individuals - ones with a certain spark: an outsider, a drag queen, a performer....a marginalized magical individual.
Moena‘s form of devotion is in connecting with her subjects on a human level and facilitating them in the very important act of being ‘seen‘.
Erling Viktor's work covers unrest, movement and change. The artist reflects on his life and then seizes impulses from a general perspective which can be drawn from long-term, personal experiences as influences. He searches endlessly for truth - whether in himself or in the people around him. Naked and on this search, he uses art to dive into what is behind the clichés and the charming facades to reveal true colours. The artist's goal is to demonstrate deep and complicated feelings with authenticity and candour - posing obsolete and playful questions about these human exchanges through multiple mediums.
Viktor is an artist whose life and work are interchangeable- a mirror of one another; an individual 'hopelessly devoted' to his craft. For D E V O T I O N, he is challenging the erotic aspects of life and death in the male image. These works are a retrospective over ca.15 years of creation - a personal Atlas of sorts.
Artists Dominik and Benjamin Reding have made dedicated space in their lives uncovering the worlds and motivations of the famed yet mysterious ‘Wandergesellen’ or Journeymen (and women) of Germany and Central Europe. These individuals are young persons below the age of 30, unmarried, childless and with no debts, who have completed formal training in any number of trades such as carpentry, gardening, or stonemasonry. He or she sets off from the family home for a period of not less than three years and a day.- armed with a map, toothbrush, some tools and a few parcels - without a cell phone or money - they must find their way.
Distinguishable by their ‘quirky outfit’ of corduroy, top hat, and knarled cane, these wandering craftspeople began to stand out because they fell out of time. A few hundred men and approximately 80 women, their existence is rare and almost mythical. They keep to themselves, and their traditions are holy to them inside their ‘secret tribe’, bartering skills for comforts such as food and bed. Their tactics are arcane - albeit curious and treasured deep among European tradition. Although pensive and kind, they rarely let anyone from the ‘outside’ ‘in’, but the brothers Reding have managed to crack the seal and welcome the Wandergesellen regularly into their home and studio - to reveal the human behind the facade in staged photographs, clothed and in the nude. Exciting, contradictory and free - making the individual visible, radically visible. A true devotion.
Together the artists in DEVOTION: THE SHOW are unified in their profound nature of creation but unique in their processes of passion.