A duoshow that combines the work of Michael Polakowski and Lotte Keijzer.
‘NEAR/FAR’ speaks to the contrast between the chosen subjects of both artists as Lottes paintings are about food and everything that has to do with the subject. Michaels work on the other hand is about the contrast between close up, intimate scenes and far off landscapes and street views.
The title also references the physical distance of both artists to the gallery, which is quite ‘NEAR’ for Lotte Keijzer, who lives in Haarlem, The Netherlands and quite ‘FAR’ for Michael Polakowski who lives and works in Detroit, USA.
For this body of work, Lotte Keijzer has been inspired by a topic she absolutely loves – food and anything related to food. Therefore, they’re dished up through a flamboyant technique that elevates them to appear splendid, and nontrivial. Garnished with a generous sprinkle of comedy they’re unpretentious and straightforward but still contain a slight bite of enigma or paradox. Although stylised and reduced from their actual appearance, it’s the noticeable tactile textures (sand used in the paint of the fries, thick bits of pasta floating around in the dishwater) that remove these visuals from the flatness of the canvas surface, bringing them closer to their multidimensional actuality.
To Michael, this project (NEAR/FAR) was the perfect opportunity to take a step back and reflect from a distance on the city that has inspired him for the past decade of his career. “It’s like closely looking at something from a distance while being rather far from the thing you are looking closely at.”
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