Markus Merkle and Osvaldo Ramirez Castillo
From 05/03/2010 to 10/04/2010
Kuma Galerie’s second exhibition of 2010 exhibits work by two young artists whose work ranges from intensely detailed figurative drawings to abstraction. Yet they are linked by a deeply personal and experiential representation of culture, memory, and mortality.El Salvador born, Montreal based Osvaldo Ramirez Castillo's work is an amalgamation of personal iconography that reflects El Salvador's cultural memory and history manifested through Latin American mythology and personal memory. His work is rooted in the experiences of loss and memories of violence that marked El Salvador during the civil war years in the 1980’s. The possibilities of narrative and critical storytelling are explored through an emphasis on the urgency of drawing as a personal act of remembering. Using the human body as a symbol and as a site of trauma Ramirez Castillo's mixed media drawings engage with the portrayal of personal experience, particularly his adopted North American identity, The drawings shown at Kuma Galerie are a personal repertoire of iconic images that the artist has developed over the years, integrating printmaking techniques such as offset printing and lithography processes using mylar. After completing his MFA at Montreal’s Concordia University Ramirez Castillo’s work has been shown in several exhibitions including solo shows in Headbones Gallery, Toronto and Push Gallery, Montreal. His work has also been included groups shows internationally, most recently at IDB Cultural Center in Washington D.C. In his drawings and sculptures Düsseldorf based Markus Merkle is occupied with pieces of disalignment on different cultural levels. The formal expression is generally always used in direct relation to his momentary realm. Merkle makes use of his immediate surroundings in his working cycles. His nomadic practice means that wherever he travels to, his strategy is to work within the environment he finds himself in. Thus his color intensive work, consisting of fragmented pieces, also represents a holistic cosmos. Influences from his travels, spirituality and music serve as basic elements in his work. Themes of lethality, mortality and awareness, become merged with questions about the nature of art itself. Yet his work remains grounded on irony and humor. Sacred imagery combined with architectural elements, create a conspicuous contrast between their concreteness and their ghostly mystic figures.Markus Merkle received his Master Diploma from the Academy of Fine Arts, München, in 2005. His work has been shown in group shows in Germany, USA, Italy, and Portugal, including exhibitions in the Soapfactory, Minneapolis, USA as well as AdBK and Raum 500 München. His most recent solo show was at CoCAO (Center of contemporary art Ortenau), Germany.