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Katharina Arndt POP-UP Exhibition

First Asian Solo Exhibition at Ting Ting Art Space

East German female artist illustrates her thoughts on the absurdity of modern filters and how consumerism fits in our society

Katharina Arndt was born in 1981 East Germany right before the two sides united. Even though from her birth till the unification in 1990, Katharina only experienced about ten years of communist society. This childhood life experience shaped her values and perspective, making her sojourn in Barcelona, Spain quite a culture shock and making her reflect on the different social culture.

For years, Katharina lived between Berlin and Barcelona. The two places are entirely different in national spirit, artistic cycle, and cultural sentiments. All of these factors and perspectives from the past communist East Germany made Katharina’s artistic perception, source of inspiration and her chosen media each possess their unique meaning and depth.

She grew up in a system and environment that did not have the concept of consumerism and a consumerist system but only consisted of people’s communes; years later, when Katharina was freely enjoying the Western consumerist products, such as beaches, sunshine, shopping etc., she could not help but start to reflect on this crossover of her social experiences from two opposite societies. She then took a step further and discussed the shallowness of human nature, and the behaviors and living attitude limited by all sorts of restrictions created by social media.

Showering under sunlight in Barcelona, lazily drinking iced alcohol or beverages on the beach, smoking from time to time… people are always taking pictures: of the sky, of the light, of the beach, of the food and alcohol, of themselves or each other… nonstop. After taking the pictures, people add on filters to embellish. Yet this heavenly sight, a series of filtered and perfect behavior and photos, yet when we put down our phones and look around, it is then when we discover the beaches covered in all kinds of leftovers, cigarette butts, and trash created by our behaviors.

Katharina ARNDT, Barceloneta Beach, 450 x 190 cm, acrylic on canvas, 2023

Katharina consciously chose to use a more childlike brush stroke, meant to remain a distance from the real world; therefore presenting things as they genuinely are.

Lines seemingly simple and rough are actually well thought out and designed. Katharina’s personalized artistic interpretation abandons complicated figurative description and depicts the objects through focused and conceptual strokes.

Katharina uses lots of manmade materials (e.g. PVC film, painted paper and fiberglass), glossy acrylic and paint marker as her creative medium, meant to use the smooth texture and visualization to mock our world now that is filled with plastic and over-materialized.

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“The More Loving One” Gemma Holzer’s debut Asian solo exhibition

Dreams Without You

At the end of 2022, Ting Ting Art Space hold a news about the first solo exhibition in Asia of Gemma Holzer, a British  based modern artist. Gemma, who is only 26 years old, spent a year preparing for the exhibition of “The More Loving One”.

As for the large-scale solo exhibition jointly planned by Ting Ting Art Space and TIN TIN STUDIO curatorial office, once again interpreted the possibility of art exhibitions with a new concept, combined various elements, and absorbed the core of the creative concept to tell a story.

A sad yet romantic love story from the source creator.

“The More Loving One” is taken from a poem by the famous 20th century poet W H Auden. This is the basis of the overall creative presentation and painting concept in this exhibition, and it can be said to be the source of inspiration for the entire exhibition. It’s a journey through loss, heartbreak, letting go, and moving on, while also echoing the art-maker’s ode to the man who was once at the center of her life.

Gemma Holzer reflects the imagery of childishness through her own heart, transforming the overall atmosphere of the work into the subtle relationship and distance between people after they grow up. At the same time, her works also reveal the resonance of the collective loneliness of this generation of people living in the post-digital era. Gemma has always used deliberately oversaturated scenes, sometimes bright and colorful, sometimes dark and ethereal, to depict her own youthful, passionate, free-spirited and exclusive memories.

Most of Gemma Holzer’s creations use the autobiographical character PinkBoy as the protagonist, and her creations are inspired by life experiences, interpersonal relationships, and self-growth. In Holzer’s creative world, PinkBoy grew up in isolation in the era of the epidemic. Similarly, in real life, the sincere connection between people is being swallowed up step by step by the rapid flow of digital technology. Gemma, or you and me who live in this era, are just like the Pink Boy in the painting who yearn for more interaction with the outside world, but are unable to extricate themselves from being isolated in their own small world.