Reeza Monfared: Dive

Paul Andre Gardner: Garden fence

Galerie-P6-Berlin is pleased to present ‘Summer Essences’, a 2 person exhibition featuring the works of Paul Andre Gardner and Reeza Monfared in a vibrant homage to the enduring awe of nature perceived and nature internal, on view from June 28-- July 31, and online via Artsy until 31 August.

Reeza Monfred’s work is about creating with the overlooked tools of nature- from the bark of a birch tree to the acorns on the forest floor. He breathes new life into these elements by converting them into 3-dimensional works of art. Hailing from the countryside of Daran, Iran, Monfared would explore the surrounding forests. There he discovered that each tree had its own smell- just like each encountered human- fostering an innate sense of essence that has accompanied him throughout his whole life. Even after immigrating to Sweden and with a radical change in life, he found comfort in the birch forests and began to create work, expressing his feelings of nature and finding beauty in decay and all of the forest treasures left behind, re-arranged and re-imagined as beautiful works of art.

Also taking tones from the awe of nature are the works of Paul Andre Gardner, a vivid journey into the spectrum of nature’s palette. For Gardner, color is the reflection of the soul, and he radiates this sentiment through lively, blissful and harmonious imagery meant to capture the ‘joie de vivre’ found in everyday life.- an entire macrocosm of sensations in one painting. Inspired by wanderlust and the worldy travels this brings, Garner’s paintings emanate his experiences by picking up droplets of hues along the way in which he expresses on canvas. From lush gardens to seascapes to pulsating neon city light, the chaotic bustle of bazaars, magical underwater worlds, street kitchens full of life, smells and culinary delights - a rainbow of pointillist magic here or a sashay of color there. His deep fascination with color is reflected in his work. Layer by layer, the paintings ask for the viewer to scope reflectively for their own interpretations.

Faced with something greater than ourselves, breathtaking and on the verge of inconceivable, can propel an individual into a stimulating state of 'awe'. One could even say that the emotion of awe is transcendent - be it imagined or experienced. The artworks for this exhibition are a collaboration between the subconscious and nature- such a phenomenon that this awe has the power to change one's perspective, in the artwork’s creators as well as in the viewer