MARENKA GABELER
MARIAN CRAMER PROJECTS is delighted to present a series of new works by the Dutch, London-based artist, Marenka Gabeler. This is the artist’s second solo exhibition at the gallery, where she will show two new large-scale installations alongside recent drawings and paintings.
When at work, Gabeler is always confronted with painting’s refusal to manifest itself. She searches for traces of a lost presence. And is interested in how we remember and how we forget.
Her work could be considered animate objects; as if they were living beings with individual voices, opinions and desires.
Looking closer, the way the panels and canvasses are painted varies; sometimes smooth brushstrokes, sometimes dry minimal gestures, scarcely covering the surface. A hand seems to lie in a landscape. Features are reduced and simplified. Faces are diffused and falling apart. Subdued colours make the images seem to reside elsewhere. There is a sense of loss of oneself.
An image of a hand is repeated, reminiscent of a ‘memory’ game, in which one has to turn over blank cards to find a matching couple. Sometimes, the background becomes more prominent than the faces. They are swallowed up by paint.
Marenka Gabeler (Delft,1975) received an MA Painting with Distinction from the Royal College of Art, London in 2006. Her projects have taken her on residencies in Japan, Syria, Majorca and recently at Aldeburgh South Beach London, Artist Residency. Exhibiting internationally, Gabeler’s work is held in high profile collections such as Alison Jacques Gallery and the Caldic Collection. Recent group exhibitions include 2Q13 Women Collectors Women Artists, London, 2013, and Huguenot Silk in Spitalfields Houses, London.
Marenka Gabeler lives and works in London.