阿德里安·盖勒：穿引的线 Adrian Geller: Warping Lines
展期 Dates: 2022.09.13 - 10.29
地址 Address: 胶囊上海，上海徐汇区安福路275弄16号1层
Capsule Shanghai, 1st Floor, Building 16, Anfu Lu 275 Nong, Xuhui District, Shanghai, China
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胶囊上海荣幸呈现艺术家阿德里安·盖勒（1997年生于瑞士巴塞尔，现工作生活于法国巴黎）在中国的首次个展“穿引的线”， 展期为2022年9月13日至10月29日。本次展览延续了盖勒以往生机勃勃，神秘且富有张力的绘画风格，囊括了艺术家近期创作的二十余件素描，绘画和装置作品。
此次的展览标题“穿引的线”带有双重指向，既点明艺术家绘画作品中蜿蜒的笔触以及其对编织概念的兴趣，又指将不同纺锤上的纱线组织、整合，纺织成布——这纺织生产中的关键一步。在盖勒的家乡巴塞尔，曾经有繁盛一时的缎带纺织工业。同样在上海，自宋元时期开始，松江地区就已经是中国棉丝纺织工业的中心。艺术家寄希望于这一共同点，连接起自己与每一位上海的观众。在此次展出的作品《梭织》（2022）和《藤纹格》（2021）以及装置作品《缎面》（2022）中，艺术家将编织这一符号巧妙地融入了他寓言般的图像语言中。纺锤，长草，棉线，细枝，手指——这些元素通过矿石的色彩，动物的皮毛以及艺术家的手缠绕在一起。正如编织这一动作本身所蕴含的最根本的目的——使连结，艺术家着迷于世界之中物与物之间的连结并试图将其具象化，编织一场私人而又盛大的，当代人与自然的寓言。
Adrian Geller 阿德里安·盖勒 | Tissage 梭织 | 2022 | oil on wood 木板油画 | 25 x 20 cm
自然和人的纠缠无疑是盖勒创作的重要线索。在他的笔下，自然既崇高又普遍，同时也蕴藏着未知的风险。画面中出现的织布机、植物，凶猛的狼狗和略带忧郁气质的男性形象组成了伊甸园般引人入胜的图景。虽然作品中充满了自然物与人造物的并陈，但艺术家并非在宣扬某种“自然主义”对城市和人造事物的反对，也无意鼓吹人类中心主义的文明对自然的闯入与干涉。恰恰相反，盖勒透过对种种跨越边界的事物的并置、转接和挪移，表达了一种自然和文化之间的等价。这也正是“自然文化”（Natureculture）这一跨学科概念所赋予我们的启示，即拒绝传统科学和现代社会默认采取的自然/文明二分法，并在个人体验中意识到，在人类与自然漫长的共处过程中，二者不断通过古老的实践，客观的纪录，符号学的表达等等内在交流塑造着彼此，而人对世界的认知，也应当是二者的融合。在作品《三只狗，一个人，在饮水 》（2021）中，年轻男人的形象和三只猎犬被同等地表述；在《我希望我是一棵树》（2022）中，树皮上逐渐显现的人脸，如同寓言故事一般的展现了某种跨物种的纠缠（Interspecies entanglements）。纵观盖勒的绘画创作，作品中反复出现在自然环境中的人类或衣饰考究，却给人以如同动物身上的皮毛一般身披西装的原始意味；亦或是全身赤裸，白皙的皮肤却又暴露出为人的脆弱。猎犬时而伴人左右，时而如凶猛野兽。各种符号与环境的错位与转化，将观者带入深邃古老的森林传说语境，又处处挑战着人们对自然与文明的泾渭分明的固有认知。这些无不例外的指向了一个高度复杂和混乱的现实。我们如同《房子二号》（2022）中的男子一般，在密林中背负着闪现幽暗灯光的房子，不知走向何方。
“人在自然界到底是个什么？对于无穷而言就是虚无，对于虚无而言就是全体，是无和全之间的一个中项。他距离理解这两个极端都是无穷之远，事物的归宿以及它们的起源对他来说，都是无可逾越地隐藏在一个无从渗透的神秘里面；他所由之而出的那种虚无以及他所被吞没于其中的那种无限，这二者都同等地是无法窥测的。” [1]
[1]（法）帕斯卡尔，何兆武译 《思想录》 商务印书馆，1997
撰文：张南昭
张南昭2020年加入UCCA尤伦斯当代艺术中心，曾先后就读于罗德岛艺术学院、布朗大学和哥伦比亚大学。研究方向及兴趣主要涵盖以佛教为主的宗教在后现代框架下的分析，以及前现代东亚视觉文化以及当代艺术。近期曾联合策划了首届沙特阿拉伯迪里耶双年展 “摸着石头过河”（2021）。
Adrian Geller 阿德里安·盖勒 | The Weaver II 编织者II | 2022 | watercolour on paper 纸本水彩 | 36 x 26 cmCapsule Shanghai is pleased to present Warping Lines, the first solo exhibition of artist Adrian Geller’s (b. 1997, Basel, Switzerland; lives and works in Paris, France) in China, on view from September 13th until October 29th, 2022. Showcasing over 20 recent drawings, watercolours and paintings along with a large-scale installation, the exhibition offers a glimpse of Geller’s vibrant and mystic works.The title Warping Lines not only reflects Geller’s sinuous brushstrokes and his interest in the concept of weaving; it also refers to a key step in producing fabrics – a process of weaving yarns from different cones to form a sheet. Ribbon weaving was once a blooming industry in Geller’s hometown, Basel, mirroring a similar heritage in Shanghai that dates back to the Song and Yuan dynasties (906 – 1368 C.E.), which was once the center of cotton and silk textile industry in China. Paying tribute to this transregional tie, the artist reinterprets the traditional craft through those ingeniously woven plants, exemplified in Tissage (2022), Cannage (2021) and the installation Ribbon Plane (2022). Spindles, weeds, cotton threads, twigs and fingers intertwine through the colors of the minerals, the fur of the beasts, and the fingers of the artist. As the very essence of weaving lies in connection, the artist is fascinated with the unveiling of the ties that connect everything in the world, crystalizing such connection by weaving a most intimate yet grand allegory about Nature and her contemporary habitants. Adrian Geller 阿德里安·盖勒 | I Wish I Was a Tree 我希望我是一棵树 | 2022 | oil on canvas 布面油画 | 73 x 60 cm
The entanglement of Nature and human is an important thread in Geller's oeuvre. In his work, Nature is sublime and universal, but also riddled with lurking dangers. Looms, plants, ferocious wolf-dogs and the somber male character constitute an intriguing scene of Eden. The ubiquitous juxtaposition of natural and man-made objects is by no means an advocation of some Naturalist opposition to urban development and human invention, nor does the artist intend to take the anthropocentric perspective and agitate for human intrusion and intervention. On the contrary, Geller conveys an equivalence between Nature and culture through the juxtaposition, transfer and displacement of objects that cross pre-existing boundaries. Similarly, the interdisciplinary notion of "natureculture" inspires us to question the nature-culture dichotomy that is mainstream in traditional science and modern society, and to realize through personal experience that human and Nature, in our long-standing history of coexistence, constantly shape one another through ancient practices, objective documentations, semiotic expressions and other forms of internal exchange. As a result, human’s understanding of the world is rooted in our interaction with Nature. In the drawing 3 dogs, 1 man, drinking, the male figure is given the same rendering as the animals. The painting I Wish I Was a Tree (2022) seemingly portrays a scene from a fable of interspecies entanglement where a human face emerges from the bark. The recurring character in Geller’s work moves through the landscape, either wearing his exquisite suit like an animal wearing its fur, or while concealing his naked body in a state of insecurity. The hound shifts back and forth between simultaneously being a trustworthy companion and a savage beast. Geller’s juxtaposition of symbols and displacement of environments create a path deep into the dark forest found in ancient myths, in which the viewer is mesmerized and freed of preconceived boundaries between nature and culture. This mythical land mirrors a highly complex and chaotic reality. Like the man in House II (2022), we carry our shimmering house on our back, wandering aimlessly in the woods. For after all what is man in nature? A nothing in regard to the infinite, a whole in regard to nothing, a mean between nothing and the whole; infinitely removed from understanding either extreme. The end of things and their beginnings are invincibly hidden from him in impenetrable secrecy, he is equally incapable of seeing the nothing whence he was taken, and the infinite in which he is engulfed. [1]
[1] The Thoughts of Blaise Pascal, translated from the text of M. Auguste Molinier by C. Kegan Paul (London: George Bell and Sons, 1901).
Text by Neil Zhang
Neil Zhang joined Ullens Center for Contemporary Art as curator in 2020. He studied at Rhode Island School of Design, Brown University, and Columbia University. His research interests include the analysis of Buddhism and related religions under a postmodern framework, visual culture in pre-modern East Asia, and contemporary art. Zhang recently co-curated the inaugural “Diriyah Biennale” (2021) in Saudi Arabia.
阿德⾥安·盖勒1997 年出⽣于瑞⼠，目前⽣活⼯作于巴黎。盖勒的画作根植于他对歌德式主⾓、吉普赛⼈或东⽅⼯匠的关注与深思，他们穿⾏于狂放⽽充满未知的⼤地追寻着⾃⼰内⼼的平静。在旅途中，他们意识到现实与⾃然脱节的异样之处。
盖勒曾在法国昂古莱姆艺术学校学习插画，他现在正于巴黎国⽴⾼等美术学院进修第四年的课程。他已在Super Dakota 画廊（⽐利时布鲁塞尔）、胶囊上海（中国上海）、Villa Noailles 艺术中⼼（法国伊埃雷）、Chez Valentin 画廊（法国巴黎）以及Stone Oven House（意⼤利都灵）举办了个⼈展览。
Adrian Geller (b. 1997) is a Swiss artist based in Paris. Adrian Geller’s paintings trace back to the contemplation of the Goethean heroes, gypsies or oriental artisans, travelling to unearth their own peace and serenity through wild and dramatic landscapes, and in the process uncovering reality’s detachment from nature thus becoming unnatural.
Adrian Geller studied illustration at the atelier Angoulême, France, and he is currently enrolled in his fourth year at the Beaux-Arts de Paris. He has held solo exhibitions at Super Dakota (Brussels, Belgium), Capsule Shanghai (Shanghai, China), Villa Noailles, (Hyères, France), Chez Valentin (Paris, France), and Stone Oven House (Turin, Italy).
艺术家肖像 Artist Portrait © 2021 Hanna Pallot
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