SONG OF SUMMER | Haverkampf Leistenschneider | Sept 1 - Oct 14, 2023
Most of us are so used to reading that we forget that each letter is a shape and each word is a composition. The type we read every day – in emails and books, on packaging and signs – has a significant aesthetic dimension. U.S. artist EJ Hauser has adopted graphic and typographic strategies for their philosophical purposes and works, revealing a new view of what we no longer see in everyday life among all the texts.
EJ Hauser’s quasi-abstract, fabric-like paintings are composed of layers of pixels, text fragments, and chimerical figures that refer to networks both in nature and the plant world, as well as to digital systems and interconnections in our human communication world. For them, letters form a sculptural framework, a compositional structure that sometimes dissolves into pure text images, sometimes leads to text in combination with images, or sometimes is buried under successive layers of paint. Some are very explicit, others require a closer look to find the spine and curves of different letters jumbled together to dissolve the boundary between word and image, mixed with chimerical figures and totemic symbols representing the interconnectedness of life on earth.
EJ Hauser is interested in the Wood Wide Web, the complex subterranean web on the planet. Plant communication takes place via the mycelium, a network of microscopic fungi beneath the forest floor, through which information is exchanged. This is not unlike the way we are connected today through our cell phones, social media, and the “invisible” Internet.
The exhibition “Song of Summer” will present a new group of works by the artist with paintings (which were created for the first time in acrylic) and works on paper. The exhibition will be accompanied by a publication with conversations between EJ Hauser and Melissa Brown and Kathy Butterly.
We cordially invite you to the opening of the exhibition on September 1 from 6-8pm. The artist will be present.
“EJ Hauser | Song Of Summer” is furthermore nominated for this year’s VBKI Art Award. The official award ceremony will take place on September 15 during Berlin Art Week.