Marcus Neustetter
Defining lines

20 September – 18 October 2014
Please join us for the opening on Saturday 20 September at 14:00

Preview by appointment

Lines define much more than cartographic representations of territorial boundaries, Marcus Neustetter seems to be suggesting with his new series of drawings at GALLERY AOP. They are both noun (naming) and verb (making): they define space as much as they are definitions of space. The lines define conflicts and conquests and they are simultaneously definitions of global and local political and economic strife.

In these drawings Neustetter attempts to imbue the mark with the kind of real world impact that a line on a territorial map has. Abstracting and isolating the line is as much about the escape of the realities of borders of separation and zones of conflict, as it is about contemplating the line itself and the spaces it creates. Suggestions as to what the line divides and what the spaces are that it separates are presented to the viewer through the titles of works like Wall I and Wall II, No Man's Land, and a title consisting of a long list of the names of countries representing places of conflict: Tunisia, Afghanistan, Italy, Rwanda, Nigeria, Thailand, Algeria, Iraq, Mali, Greece, India, Kenya, Burma, Somalia, Korea, Kyrgyz Republic, Bangladesh, France, Peru, Egypt, Ecuador, Russian Federation, Democratic Republic of Congo, Mauritania, Chad, Libya, Colombia, Angola, Yemen, China, Senegal, Mexico, Kazakhstan, Central African Republic, Northern Ireland, Nepal, Uzbekistan, Turkey, Israel, Philippines, Iran, Ukraine, Lebanon, Syria, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia.

Neustetter, however, pushes beyond the confines of borders, looking for a creative impulse that might be sparked when two lines run uncomfortably close to each other, giving rise to a series of colour explosions in the in-between spaces where definition and defining appear to be equally nebulous endeavours.

Born 1976 in Johannesburg, Marcus Neustetter obtained his Masters Degree in Fine Arts in 2001 from the University of the Witwatersrand. As an artist and cultural activist, Neustetter has produced his projects in gallery spaces, as well as in the public and virtual domain. A consistent focus in his art practice has been the intersections of art, science and technology. His practice ranges from drawing, sculpture, installation, performance, video and multimedia to site-specific and socially engaged interventions. He has exhibited in South Africa and extensively in different parts of Europe, Africa and North America. In partnership with Stephen Hobbs, Neustetter is the co-director of The Trinity Session.

www.marcusneustetter.com

www.thetrinitysession.com