Douglas Kolk, Elke Krystufek, Charlotte Schleiffert

Galerie Akinci is very pleased to announce its first presentation of the work of Douglas Kolk (b. 1963 in Newark, USA) with an exhibition of his drawings and collages from various periods. Kolk is an artist with a remarkable life story and oeuvre. The protagonists in his works seem to find themselves in a chaotic universe of images, overloaded with symbols from the fashion and media culture. The figures in his collages float in a dizzying multiplicity of visual codes, a situation that can turn at any moment into a psychological inferno from which the individual cannot escape. Highly fragile, drawn figures of boys and girls betray a split personality and morbidity, but are nevertheless replete with longing and sensitivity. Themes such as androgyny, sexuality, addiction, fear and death dominate his oeuvre. Douglas Kolk’s work features in such renowned collections as the MoMA in New York, the Falckenberg Collection in Hamburg, the Chadha Art Collection in the Netherlands and the Saatchi Collection in Britain.

In the run up to our major exhibition of Elke Krystufek’s work at the FIAC in Paris (October 21-25), we are showing her new film ‘TABOU TABOO – the country of translation’ at Galerie Akinci. Krystufek (b. 1970 in Vienna) created this film as a follow-up to her exhibition in the Austrian Pavilion at the Venice Biennale, which runs until 22 November. In the film, Krystufek humorously questions the role of the artist, the authenticity of artwork and the power of the art market. Upcoming exhibition: Kestner Gesellschaft Hannover (November 25 - February 5 2010)

The work of Charlotte Schleiffert (b. 1967 in Tilburg, the Netherlands) fits in seamlessly with the works of Douglas Kolk and Elke Krystufek. In this exhibition, Schleiffert displays a number of new paintings and one drawing. Schleiffert’s paintings have attracted less attention than her drawings in recent years. The paintings are forceful because Schleiffert ignores all the classic rules of depth and composition. She thereby beguiles viewers into modifying their usual way of looking at things and allowing themselves to be drawn into an alternative system of logic and different expectations. Charlotte Schleiffert’s work has been displayed in various museums such as the Boijmans van Beuningen Museum (2004), the Dresden Kunsthaus (2005), the Palais für aktuelle Kunst in Glückstadt (2006), the Stedelijk Museum in Amsterdam (2007) and the Gemeente Museum in Arnhem (2009)etc. Her work is included in private collections in the Netherlands and abroad, and in public and corporate collections such as Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam, Gemeente Museum Arnhem, Rabo Art Collection Netherlands , KPN Art Collection, Akzo Nobel Art Collection The Netherlands, Fries Museum Leeuwarden, Museum Boijmans van Beuningen Rotterdam etc.

Douglas Kolk
Elke Krystufek
Charlotte Schleiffert