The Hidden Side

West Berlin Gallery is proud to present the artworks of graphic designer, illustrator and fine artist Sebastien Feraut a.k.a Niark1 in „The Hidden Side“ – an exhibition dedicated to the collection of his most recent paintings and originals. One of the first artists to be exhibited at the gallery in a group show back in 2009, Niark1 returns, this time with the whole space to himself, and in his highly saturated graphic style, reveals the deeper emotions of the inner, sometimes tortured, soul.

The Hidden Side – A Solo show by Niark1
03.03.2011 – 16.04.2011
Vernissage 03.03.2011

With a multitude of inspirations, ranging from all kinds of music to create, to 80s horror films, David Lynch, Hayao Miyazaki animations, Francis Bacon, Basquiat, Constructivism, Cubism, graffiti and street art, subcultures, the list is endless, Niark1’s work reflects the pop surrealism of the Low Brow Movement.  Like the roots of a tree on speed his paintings crawl and sprawl, filling up the whole canvas with the vivid creations of his imagination. Not even the tiniest spot of white remains, instead the flat surfaces he works on become transformed into intricately detailed bodies of voluminous geometric shapes, which seem to live and breathe, inhabited by the creatures of his mind. Although at first glance seeming naive and infantile, due to the cartoon like nature of the characters and the happy colours that fill the background, the works are far from innocent. In this densely saturated environment, slightly reminiscent of the tormented self-portraits of the surrealist painter Frida Kahlo, dark tales of the inner psyche unfold. Browns or blacks almost always dominate the scene. For Niark1, the creatures which he creates are not at all aliens, but in fact personifications of that which is closest to us – our inner selves and workings of the mind, the madness that is in us, that we hide.

Working primarily in acrylics, Niark1’s application of paint and the method he uses to define his surfaces is also unique.  The process is never clean-cut. Similar to collage, the artist likes to work with layering, cutting and pasting bits of found newspaper to his surfaces, which usually consist of paper, old magazines, little wood boards or vinyl discs and then piling them with layers of paint to give them their desired depth. The result is a work so full of information that you can just keep on looking and never get bored. Just when you think you saw it all, in a hidden corner, you notice something new.  Their infinite nature hypnotises as there is always space for discoveries.

The exhibition will display a total of about 45 paintings on paper, canvas and other various mixed media.

Biography:
Sebastien Feraut a.k.a Niark1 (b. 1975) is a graphic designer, illustrator and fine artist based in Paris. Widely recognised in the design world for his commercial work, Niark1’s creations are hard to miss. His signature style is unique and can instantly be recognised in a variety of projects ranging from international commissions for streetwear clothing to music festivals, events and labels and even toy production.

Apart from his successful public face in graphics however, Niark1 is also an up and coming fine artist, whose work has already been exhibited in major cities including Paris, Copenhagen, Bruxelles, Melbourne, and London.

From 20:30 onwards, Souls United presents Piper & Marias
FreeSpaceJazzTranceElektroClashDanceFloor Concert

Those who thought they knew what gerontoPunkAmbientJazz was dealing with, will have to take themselves back to the wild. In their real travel through time into the SpaceTranceNirvana, Piper& Maria get now support from clarinettist Mark Washeim.

Beware! When the preretired duo Piper&Maria catapult themselves into the space-time continuum thank to its minimalist improvisations, the main risk lies in being hoovered with the irrevocable noise from amplifiers into the origins of the cosmogenetic sound-world.