Fiona Mackay
Close to

Sep 19, 2015 – Oct 31, 2015
  • Close to, 2015, Klemm’s, Berlin

  • Close to, 2015, Klemm’s, Berlin

  • Close to, 2015, Klemm’s, Berlin

  • Close to, 2015, Klemm’s, Berlin

  • Close to, 2015, Klemm’s, Berlin

  • Close to, 2015, Klemm’s, Berlin

  • Close to, 2015, Klemm’s, Berlin

  • Close to, 2015, Klemm’s, Berlin

  • Close to, 2015, Klemm’s, Berlin

“…they are ‘situations with painting’; sounds weird, but Fiona seems to be on the trail of an underlying idea, an original order in her exhibits; less in the sense of the project itself, but with the ‘result’ of the final viewing experience in the back of her head”

“Without hesitation it hits me directly in the eye with full force. I am in the middle of it immediately. But, other than expected, the sight does not overpower me, does not pummel me. Quite the opposite: I feel safe and secure. At first sight, in love. Therefore, when I look again it hits me all the harder. Lets me doubt. Leaves me behind, lost…. Too fast, too much, too physical…”

“Count-in. Density. Empitness. Repeat. Rhythm and language are also appropriate associations: jazzy and free, but with a determination and a goal…”

“…a filter has surely had an effect: personal stories, or some sort of code language, associative terms…the pictures always look abstract at first, but probably for Fiona they are all figurative works in the end.”

“…also the color spectrum. So many skin tones and gradients, almost tone on tone. In the disc-paintings then the overkill with paint and immediacy…large formats, but painted lightly. ‘Soft Monuments’ maybe…”

“Curtain! The view through the keyhole: antique columns, bases, arches –theater somehow — and the ‘irises’ of the discs as eternal observers….”

“Outside in front of the gallery. Smoking. And looking through the big window at the paintings. We’re silent to one another, but I still want to talk about the works with her. About the feelings one gets. I’m a little embarassed about what I am saying and trying to express. We hardly know each other…”

“The paintings are related to one another, sometimes almost comment on and quote from each other, can stand on their own — although they are one and all family members.”

“Together we are looking for a word. A word that says everything, but of course we don’t find one. We play ping pong with words, semantic sheaths: masculine and feminine, formal and gestural, figure and abstract… What for, anyway? I am annoyed; with defining and limiting, with vocabulary, and reflect back on the thing that it is. An image. And an image is an image is an image. Resign myself to this. And still, I am happy because I realize: I was, I am, very close.”

Silvia, Anna & Sebastian