Lotte Gertz / Volker Huller: The Mouse, the Bird and the Sausage

Timothy Taylor Gallery is proud to present the first London exhibitions by Lotte Gertz and Volker Hueller at our Dering Street space. Both artists, in different ways, use a combination of collage, printmaking, sculpture or painting to explore the rich territory between abstraction and figuration, between narrative content and the joy of pure process.

Gertz’s works on paper have been described as ‘muted expressionism’. Gertz uses understatement and simplicity to great effect – low-key greys and greens combined with the economical yet tactile use of woodcut printing, painting, drawing and collage all combine to express the wry humour of, for example, Gertz’s native Danish absurd poetry. Gertz also explores the idea of the artist’s alter-ego, in the vein of Max Ernst – The Maker (The Other Self), 2007 (illustrated below) is therefore a form of self-portrait – a sparsely sketched drawing-machine enacting its own creation. Playful humour combines with an imaginative use of mundane materials in Gertz’s spare yet intriguing works.

A similar sense of absurdity infuses Volker Hueller’s hand-painted etchings, in which spidery drawing delineates ambiguous scenes reminiscent of the darker narratives of the Brothers Grimm. More recent works have become less detailed as strong blocks of colour compete with delicate drawing and fantastical flourishes. Meanwhile Hueller’s large works combine paint with collaged scraps of multifarious textiles, for example juxtaposing rough jute with shimmering silks. These strongly tactile and seductive works enjoy an informality and unpretentiousness designed to counteract the predominantly masculine associations of abstraction.

Lotte Gertz was born in Denmark in 1972 and now lives and works in Glasgow. She studied at the Gerrit Rietveld Academy, Amsterdam and Glasgow School of Art, graduating in 2002. Recent shows include a group show at Glasgow Sculpture Studios and a solo exhibition hosted by the Outpost Gallery, Norwich in collaboration with Transmission Gallery, Glasgow as part of Contemporary Art Norwich 2007.

Volker Hueller was born in Forchheim, Southern Germany in 1976, and now lives and works in Hamburg. He studied at the Hochschule fur bildende Kunste in Hamburg. Recent shows include group exhibitions at Michael Benevento Gallery in Los Angeles and Feinkunst Kruger Gallery in Hamburg.