Naomi Akimoto, Viviana Meretta, Tomoko Sato, Natalia Wehler – Going Glowing

In the organizer's words:

Between attitude and doubt, brilliance and transience, Going Glowing unfolds a multi-layered field of tension. The artists Naomi Akimoto, Viviana Meretta, Tomoko Sato and Natalia Wehler explore the fragile balance of the world in painting, printmaking, ceramics and sculpture.

The artists question both the ephemeral and the permanent. In an open approach, a reflection of the complex connections between the self, nature and the crisis-ridden world around us emerges: What remains when everything fades? Why shine when darkness follows?

The traditional techniques used - painting, printing, ceramics and sculpture - demand patience and attention, both in artistic practice and in contemplation. At a time when both ancient craft techniques and natural ecosystems are under threat, the works provide a conscious counterpoint, as a kind of essence of the living.

Naomi Akimoto develops organic-looking forms that are repeated and transformed in variations. Her works often refer to elements of nature in the environment, such as plants, trees, mountains and natural phenomena. Akimoto also draws inspiration from air, water and the sky.

This movement between microcosm and universal rhythm finds a counterpart in the sculptural works of Viviana Meretta, whose reduced forms oscillate between abstraction and representationalism, merging space, body and base.

Tomoko Sato, who exploits the possibilities of oil painting in a virtuoso manner, opens up a different approach to perception. Sometimes she creates spatial depth and brilliance using the old master glazing technique, sometimes she places fingerprints, frames or lines in the last layer of paint like pictorial questioning.

Natalia Wehler expands the field of tension in space to include the presence of political and ecological issues. She combines her woodcuts with installation, projection and video, and, taking up the materiality of traditional techniques, an ancient technique unfolds with new perspectives.

The artists explore the inside and outside, the above and below - water, air, earth and life itself. Their works question each other on quiet levels. The works are testimonies to a world that may not last in this form, and at the same time express an artistic awakening, perhaps even a "now more than ever" - beyond short-lived trends and oppressive world politics.

In times of catastrophe and war, Going Glowing can also be read as an ambivalent sign: as a final rebellion or as a persistent glow, perhaps also as a self-ironic shining, as an artistic gesture of pausing and moving on at the same time.

Going Glowing creates a space in which art shines softly, even in dark times.

Vernissage on April 24 at 7:30 pm with a thematic introduction by Michael Stockhausen, art historian and director of the museums of the city of Soest.

Closing on May 17 from 2 to 5 p.m. with coffee and cake.

Opening hours: Thursday 7 - 9 p.m., Saturday 3 - 5 p.m., Sunday 2 - 5 p.m.

Freeadmission