"Ritsue Mishima Holger Niehaus"

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Ausstellung in Berlin : "Ritsue Mishima Holger Niehaus"

Ritsue Mishima
Within the contemporary Venetian glass scene, the work of the Japanese-Italian artist Ritsue Mishima (Kyoto 1962) is exceptional. Her trademark is intuitive colorless glass objects with strikingly rough, sometimes ornate surfaces. Limiting her possibilities purposely and provokingly, she takes on a special position within Italian glass production. Her meanwhile impressive work may be seen as a multifaceted demonstration of the classical techniques of glassblowing and decoration.

Mishima draws her inspiration—if we look at the associative titles for her works—primarily from nature and the cosmos. Sometimes it is the glinting skin of fish or enlarged microscopic sea life. Sprouting seeds, weathered tree stems, or exotic fruits motivate other forms. In addition, there are objects that show meteorites boding ill, the full moon, or the twinkling starry sky.
Interestingly enough her oeuvre, on which she has been working for nearly twenty years, cannot be told as a linear narrative. Not every new piece is a development of earlier work. Every object stands for itself and its form apparently gives expression to a specific feeling.

Her work is represented Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen (Rotterdam), Alter Hof Herding (Coesfeld), Frans Hals Museum (Haarlem), Musee d'art decoratifs (Paris) and in private collections.
Giorgio Armani Prize 2001 Bavarian State Award 2012

Holger Niehaus
Holger Niehaus (b. Nordhorn, Germany, 1975) takes us to a strange world, where plants, fruit and animals congregate in serene still-life. Niehaus masterfully interweaves the traditional still-life with minimalist forms, so that every photograph requires a second glance to see what is actually there. It then becomes clear that the objects have been attacked with an apple corer, paint or scissors.

Holger Niehaus' photographs are based on the classic still-life. By manipulating the subject or the photograph, however, Niehaus ensures that it fits into his perfectible world. In interfering with the subject - be it a plant, animal or something else - Niehaus destroys characteristic features of the original, preventing us from looking at the photographs in a ‘normal' way. And although his actions betray his love of manipulation, there is also a cruel side to it. The artist literally peels off a layer and exposes the fruit: he conjures up a little world behind which lie hours spent working away at the subject, a search for a dream world where the goal is aimless perfection.
Especially for this show Holger Niehaus creates works where he will work with the vases of Ritsue Mishima
Holger Niehaus studied at the AKI Academy of Art and Design in Enschede, and since graduating in 2002 has exhibited his work in Amsterdam, Berlin, Hamburg and Paris.

We think that we know the world but there are countless places on earth about which we know next to nothing. The ocean floor, for example, is home to numerous organisms never seen by mankind. Every time a new species is discovered we are amazed by its extraordinary form, beautiful colours, transparency and the remarkable ways in which it moves or hides from predators. Gravity plays a subordinate role. It is the currents that determine direction, temperature and the diversity of prey.
In the underwater world everything can fly. The relationship between an organism's structure and its function is much less complex and advanced than among land animals. There appear to be no boundaries between plants and animals. A veil, a stalk, a fan, a hood, or a sphere with bulges: you can encounter everything that also has a place in the animal kingdom. The earth is teeming with co-inhabitants with which we have no affinity whatsoever.
I am struck by a similar astonishment whenever I encounter a piece of glass by Ritsue Mishima. What is it? How was it made? How does it maintain its form? How can it exist? Whether considered at a distance - as an entity - or in detail, a Mishima object remains a silent and incomprehensible being which nonetheless seems entirely natural. I dare not call such an object a vase because that is a household object that one places on the windowsill. A Mishima object is not of this world and does not lend itself to what we tend to think of as useful functions.
The same is true of what Holger Niehaus does: he constantly undermines the notion that a flower, fruit or a fish has a use value as a commodity. Mishima's and Niehaus's artistry resides above all in highlighting the beauty that exists in every aspect of nature. It is a reminder that the most mysterious of emotional charges are to be found in the greatest simplicity of structure and substance.


Rob Smolders