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Patrick Gabler
Circle & Cosmos
Circles are simple closed curves which divide the plane into an interior and an exterior. The circumference of a circle is the perimeter of the circle, and the interior of the circle is called a disk.
Early science, particularly geometry and astronomy/astrology, was connected to the divine for most medieval scholars. The compass was seen as a symbol of God's act of Creation, as many believed that there was something intrinsically "divine" or "perfect" that could be found in circles.
In its most general sense, a cosmos is an orderly or harmonious system. It originates from a Greek term κ?σμος meaning "order, orderly arrangement, ornaments," and is the antithetical concept of chaos. In Russian, the word cosmos simply means space.
Patrick Gabler works with Indian ink on paper. The most immediately recognizable form in his drawings is the circle. If these were poems, the circle would be the rhyme that concentrates the image. The connection to Euclidean geometry is undoubtedly apparent in his method, although one could argue that Euclid’s postulates are rarely far away from representations of our world. At least until Einstein threw in his curveball. The non-Euclidean ellipsis introduces movement and depth to the proceedings. We are not simply looking at circles, but at the flowing activity within them, the life emanating from each stroke, swerve and flourish.
Over the past five years, Patrick Gabler has been drawing with indian ink on vast sheets of white paper, using a pair of compasses to describe the initial form and then allowing the method itself to draw him into a landscape hitherto unseen.
The method in question continues a tradition of illustration from the middle ages, the intricate lines of Paolo Veneto’s bold attempts at a cartography of Naples in the 14th century, or the respectful meticulousness of a 16th century church path in Göttingen.
If the circle mimics the will to capture a world in its entirety, be it the earth we are glued to or the heavens above, then the forms in Gabler’s drawings serve as a reminder that the circle is by no means as static or hermetic as it may first appear. Tempting though it may be to see a comet flash by (and there is something of the medieval fascination with the firmament to be detected here), the relationship between the larger and smaller forms, the circles and their echoes, actually underlines the rigour of the method, the singularity of the gesture which gives these works their impact.
For each fresh stroke of ink can only be committed to paper once and the flow can be interrupted at any moment by one false move. With no possibility of correction, there is an exactness here reminiscent of Japanese ink drawings, the simple elegance with which artists in Japan recorded their affinity to nature. Indeed, his technique readily lends itself to the creation of natural landscapes, a wave, a pine tree – in Japan the pine represents youth and longevity, which nicely reflects the unhurried, yet vibrant quality of the drawings. In a different time and space, traces of Van Gogh’s exuberant brushstrokes, as he contemplated the corn fields around Arles, might also become visible.
There is a depth to Gabler’s drawings, intensified by the peripheral forms, even the circular ones, which belies the disc on paper format. Nevertheless, the grammar of his works draws as much on geometry as it does on the gesture of illustrative continuity. Complexity within, the promise of tranquility without, Gabler’s drawings invite us to explore a personal labyrinth of perception as we edge towards lightness or peer deeper inwards. Herein lies their magic – they convey a sense of wonder which has survived through the ages, (these could be hugely magnified microscopic slides or comet dust trails, swirling leaves or lunar seas). They are in flux and it is we who are transfixed.
You can google earth but no search engine can pinpoint the landscapes brought to us by Patrick Gabler.
Gareth Davies
CV
Ausstellungen/ Exhibitions
Solo / duo
2010 Kreis und Kosmos Zyklus, Cain Schulte Gallery Berlin
2009 Galerie Hein Elferink, Staphorst -
Kreis und Kosmos, Zeichnungen, 18m Galerie für Zahlenwerte, Berlin (D)
2005 Zeichnungen, 2003-2005, Projekthaus, Hamburg (D)
2003 Baño eléctrico en Buenos Aires, Dibujos, Centro Cultural Borges, Buenos Aires (ARG)
2001 Elektrisches Baden, XI-XXXV, Zeichnungen, Agentur für Zeitgenössische Kunst, Christoph Grau, Hamburg (D)
1998 Elektrisches Baden, I-X, Zeichnungen, Agentur für Zeitgenössische Kunst, Christoph Grau, Hamburg (D)
1994 Mädchen in Kissen, Zeichnungen, 1991-1993, Literaturhaus, Hamburg (D)
Gruppe/Group
2010 Gruppenausstellung, Hein Elferink Galerie, Staphort, Niederlande
Director’s Choice, Summer group show, Cain Schulte Gallery Berlin
Inaugrual Show, Cain Schulte Gallery San Francisco
SCOPE Basel 2010, Group show with Linda Karshan, Justin Quinn and Werner Linster, Cain Schulte Gallery Berlin
NEXT Chicago, Cain Schulte Gallery San Francisco
2009 START!, Galerie Hein Elferink, Staphorst
Art Amsterdam, Galerie Hein Elferink
2008 Line: A Drawing Exhibition, Estel Gallery, Nashville (USA)
Circulation, Gallery Kunstler, Booksmart Studio, Rochester (USA)
Werken op Papier, Galerie van den Berge, Goes
Art Rotterdam, Galerie van den Berge
2007 Asien Transit, Kulturstiftung Schloss Agathenburg (D)
2005 Multiplicity, An Exploration of Multiples and Obsession, Spaces Gallery / Cleveland (USA)
BIOGRAFIE
Patrick Gabler, 1967 in München geboren, lebt und arbeitet seit 1989 in Hamburg. Er studierte in Hamburg an der Hochschule für angewandte Wissenschaften.
Seit 2004 arbeitet er an einer Serie großformatiger Zeichnungen mit dem Titel "Kreis und Kosmos", die bereits in zahlreichen Ausstellungen in Europa und den USA gezeigt wurden.
Die an der Schnittstelle abstrakter und gegenständlicher Darstellung angesiedelten Arbeiten auf Papier, zeichnen ein äußerlich kontemplatives und ruhiges, im Innern aber komplexes und bewegtes Abbild unserer Welt.
Durch die präzise Anordnung der Elemente und ihre behutsame Ausführung lassen sich Patrick Gablers großformatige Zeichnungen ebenso als zeitgenössische Varianten historischer Karthografien und schematisierter Weltbilder betrachten.
Neue Zeichnungen aus dieser Serie, werden demnächst in Einzelausstellungen in der Galerie Hein Elferink in den Niederlanden und im Dezember 2010 bei Cain Schulte Contemporary Art Berlin zu sehen sein. |
