Other Planets are Available
Kunstverein Freiburg is showing Tony Swain's first solo exhibition in Germany. The painter from Northern Ireland works with a restricted range of materials including everyday broadsheet newspapers which have been taken apart and re-formed to provide the artist with a canvas. The existing words and images on the newsprint are incorporated, adapted or obliterated in the process of making a new painting. His delicate compositions criticize a culture that demands quick information and results.
Through this dual process of collage and painting, Swain teases out fantastical distorted landscapes and impossible structures that hover on the border between reality and fantasy. They seem unstable, as though they exist in some other dimension where the usual laws of geography and physics don’t apply. The paintings are shaped by the artist until a balance is achieved between abstraction and representation.
The diversity of Swain’s work can also be seen in his involvement as a musician in the highly regarded band Hassle Hound and his curatorial role in Le Drapeau Noir (2010) at the Glasgow International festival. In collaboration with artists Raydale Dower and Rob Churm, Swain organised a temporary ‘artists' café’ and performance venue. Named after the anarchist symbol of the black flag, the project referred to early twentieth-century avant-garde venues, such as the Cabaret Voltaire in Zurich. It presented experimental performance, art and music in one space without favouring any one medium in particular, reflecting the fluid way in which art is created within the city and its artistic communities.
Opening hours and tickets
Opening: Friday, 20 March, 19:00
Exhibition
- Tuesday – Sunday: 12:00 – 18:00
- Wednesday: 12:00 - 20:00
- Monday: closed
Tickets
Standard: 2 € (1,50 € reduced), Thursday free entrance