GIANT STEPS

MPHQ Project Space London I Cologne presents:

giant steps

LONDON MEETS COLOGNE

Martha Parsey I René Kemp
Cedric Christie I Boscher Theodor
Andy Earl I Oliver Abraham

Opening 7th April 2019.
Exhibition runs from 8th April-3rd May, viewing by appointment.

GIANT STEPS brings together six artists, three from London and three from Cologne: a painter, a sculptor and a photographer, that each deal with the cross-over of media and the tension between figurative representation and formalistic abstract theory.
The title Giant Steps derives from the jazz album by John Coltrane released in 1960, which was groundbreaking in changing perceptions of composition and improvisation. This exhibition shows the vibrance of expression when these two meet. Seen through the conflict, dissonance and harmony when figuration and abstraction interact, not only within the indivdual work of each artist but in the accumulative and exponential sum of the total of this exhibitionʼs collective parts.
Each of these artists draws and directly refers to their artistic history, with Theodorʼs direct references to Bonnard, Warhol and Kirchner, Earlʼs to Manet, Parseyʼs to Malevich and Hockney, Abrahamʼs to Avedon and Penn and Christieʼs to Ed Ruscha and Gilbert and George. This is fertile ground for creative invention on which all six of these artists flourish.