HENRIK EIBEN

Bartha Contemporary is delighted to announce Henrik Eiben’s third exhibition with the gallery. Entitled Condo, the show will feature a series of recent wall based relief works, which at first appear as clearly defined geometric abstract compositions, however on closer inspection reveal their often skillfully hidden sub-context and showcase a broader and highly nuanced approach to abstraction.

Henrik Eiben’s (b. 1975 Tokyo, lives and works in Hamburg) multifaceted works are full of deceptions and willful contradictions. Influenced by American Minimalism the artist’s paintings, works on paper as well as installations evolve from a reduced vocabulary of geometric shapes. These often explore a realm teetering on the edge of both sculpture and painting.

Eiben predominantly works with unorthodox materials mixing fabrics with construction materials or employing a range of different man made plastics as well as various metals, such as copper and aluminum. A variety of painting techniques further underline the artist’s wide-ranging interest in individual properties, that each technique and material offer. Henrik Eiben’s love for using materials as a medium first began during his studies in the USA. It was there that Eiben decided to work with such a wide variety, each component chosen for its ability to serve as a means to accomplish a preconceived idea, rather than for its inherent attributes.

The clever interaction between distinctly different mediums as well as highly contrasting colour-schemes allow Eiben an artistic freedom, which results in exceptionally engaging works.

This exhibition at Bartha Contemporary coincides with the artist’s current presentation at the Kunstverein Giesen in Germany.