The Seasons Bend

In the organizer's words:

GNYP Gallery has the great pleasure to present The Seasons Bend. The solo exhibition of the New York-based artist Maria Calandra , can be seen from September 12 to October 19, 2024 at Knesebeckstr. 96, 10623 Berlin.

For Maria Calandra, landscapes are not just sections of the world. In other words, not just what could be described as an organized representation of a natural place - real or not - that follows the techniques prescribed by art history, such as perspective, colour schemes, tonal contrasts and lines. Of course, her colorful canvases are indeed landscapes, but they do not simply depict trees, lakes, mountains or horizons. They are representations of something quite different, something that is more perceived than actually visible. Calandra's landscapes are not just a slice of what she sees - they are also a slice of what she feels.

In her second exhibition with GNYP Galerie Berlin, Maria Calandra shows a clear development compared to her last exhibition. While back then, in 2023, she presented such a rather straightforward depiction of landscapes - the horizon line, for example, was an identifiable and structural element, and now it has practically disappeared, integrated into the painterly swirl - she currently seems to transcend this area. Nevertheless, she does not completely abandon the reference to the genre. The reference to landscape representations throughout the history of art is still there, showing that innovation comes from the constant confrontation with tradition and not, as the modernists used to believe, from the mere destruction of the past. In this respect, it would be a little hypocritical to pretend that the delicate matter of a landscape is a blank slate. In not doing so, Calandra's relationship to the history of the genre is both an ethical and an aesthetic stance. To paint landscapes today is to value our world and our history.

But what is different about these landscapes? Firstly, they are not just painterly representations of sensory perceptions such as rivers, mountains, trees, skies, rainbows and the horizon (all of which can be seen on one canvas or another in this exhibition). Rather, they are representations of another time (hence the title of the exhibition). The delicate and tumultuous fusion of colors and shapes hints at the fundamental instability that permeates everything out there. Everything is constantly bending in and out of itself. Perhaps we are only witnessing the changing of the seasons - which would be a mighty feat in itself, something first attempted by painters in the Dutch Golden Age, when turbulent waves and clouds expressed such a notion - but in art it is usually the accent you give to things that counts. Maria Calandra places a clear emphasis on the dynamic that connects all things. It was never just a landscape.