Tjorg Douglas Beer

Opening sunday 15 June, 15.00 hrs

This summer Stadsgalerij Heerlen presents two solo exhibitions of works by Tjorg Douglas Beer (Germany, 1973) and Andrei Roiter (Russia, 1960); two artists who travel the world with their very own artistic approach. Tjorg Douglas Beer’s work centres around politics, religion and social phenomena; he plays with serious content and turns it around into ironical settings. His work will be exhibited for the first time in a Dutch museum; the opening is on Sunday 15 June, at 15.00 hrs.

Using plastic, adhesive tape and paper clippings, sculptures and installations, the young German artist Tjorg Douglas Beer builds worlds in which both the absurdity and reality of everyday life play a role. Using a great diversity of materials he creates a wealth of content. He seems to rummage through the detritus of present-day society, selecting details and fragments which he re-fashions in a deeply personal way. It is important to Beer that his work radiate a certain power, a rough and almost crass energy.

For the Stadsgalerij Heerlen he will develop the new, room-sized installation Narkose #02. Beer invites the viewer into a scenery that is a mix between a war zone, a social bulwark and an drugs den. Among water pipes and terracotta warriors, stagnant rebels made of paper gather, surrounded by large portraits of saints, collages on aluminium foil and painted mirrors. Junkies in wheelchairs sit side by side with paper Palestinians around a barbecue. Beer perceives the situation of our hypermedialised society as a cause for concern. The effect of hypermedialisation creates an numbness in our minds, a kind of narcotic state of being. Beer tries to incorporate this realisation in his grotesque panoramic landscape.

Tjorg Douglas Beer was born in Lübeck, Germany (1973). He studied at the School of Fine Arts in Hamburg and currently lives and works in Berlin and New York. His work has been exhibited in various galleries (a.o. Mitchell-Innes & Nash/NY; Patricia Low/Gstaad) and art centres in the United States, Europe and Japan (a.o. Nikolaj Contemporary Art Centre/Copenhagen; Hokkaido Museum of Modern Art/Sapporo; Bonner Kunstverein; Kunsthaus Hamburg).

Tjorg Douglas Beer
Narkose #02