Mathias Poledna / Florian Pumhösl

22 September to 20 November 2011

For this exhibition Mathias Poledna (b. Austria, 1965) and Florian Pumhösl (b. Austria, 1971) have each created a single expansive new work. Poledna has produced a 35 mm film for Raven Row’s ground floor, and Pumhösl has made a series of 54 glass paintings for its panelled upper galleries. The interaction between these works and their spatial implementation plays a key role in the exhibition, addressing Raven Row’s distinct architecture, and the potential for dialogue across different conceptual frameworks.

 

Mathias Poledna (for whom this was the first large exhibition in London) works primarily in film. While his minimal and evocative films focus on very different subjects – a post-punk band, a rainforest in Papua New Guinea, a set of crystal glasses from the 1920s – they share a rigorous involvement with the language of film, and the process of image-making in the context of contemporary and historic popular culture.

 

Florian Pumhösl makes paintings and films which mediate the avant-garde graphics, painting and architecture of early modernism. Neither straightforward historical reference, nor appropriation, these works operate within a canon of abstract visual language, and reflect on the diverse manifestations of modernity.

 

Poledna and Pumhösl have a history of shared interests and exchange going back to collaborations while at art school and afterwards. This exhibition is the first to present their distinct but related practices in the form of a two-person show.

 

 

Mathias Poledna’s recent exhibitions include: Mathias Poledna, Portikus, Frankfurt, 2010; Galerie Meyer Kainer, Vienna, 2010; Mathias Poledna, New Museum, New York, 2009; Mathias Poledna/Christopher Williams, Bonner Kunstverein, Bonn, 2009; Yokohama Triennale 2008; Mathias Poledna, Galerie Daniel Buchholz, Cologne, 2007; Mathias Poledna, Hammer Museum, Los Angeles, 2007; Mathias Poledna, Witte de With, Rotterdam, 2006; Whitney Biennial, Whitney Museum, New York, 2006. Poledna lives and works in Los Angeles.

 

Florian Pumhösl’s recent exhibitions include: 678, Mumok, Vienna, 2011; Florian Pumhösl, Galerie Krobath, Vienna, 2011; Diminution, Galerie Daniel Buchholz, Berlin, 2010; Bewegliche Bühne, Kunstverein für die Rheinlande und Westfalen, Düsseldorf, 2010; Florian Pumhösl, Lisson Gallery, London, 2008; documenta 12, Kassel, 2007; São Paulo Biennial, 2006; Florian Pumhösl. Animated Map, Neue Kunsthalle St. Gallen, 2005–6. Pumhösl lives and works in Vienna.

 

Exhibition view of Mathias Poledna / Florian Pumhösl, Raven Row, 2011

Photograph by Marcus J. Leith

Exhibition view of Mathias Poledna / Florian Pumhösl, Raven Row, 2011

Photograph by Marcus J. Leith

Mathais Poledna

A Village by the Sea, 2011

35mm black and white film, optical sound

5:40 min

Photograph by Marcus J. Leith

Mathais Poledna

A Village by the Sea, 2011

35mm black and white film, optical sound

5:40 min

Photograph by Marcus J. Leith

Mathias Poledna

A Village by the Sea, 2011

35mm black and white film, optical sound

5:40 min

Photograph by Marcus J. Leith

Mathias Poledna

A Village by the Sea, 2011

35mm black and white film, optical sound

5:40 min

Photograph by Marcus J. Leith

Mathias Poledna

A Village by the Sea, 2011

35mm black and white film, optical sound

5:40 min

Photograph by Marcus J. Leith

Mathias Poledna

A Village by the Sea, 2011

35mm black and white film, optical sound

5:40 min

Photograph by Marcus J. Leith

Mathias Poledna

A Village by the Sea, 2011

35mm black and white film, optical sound

5:40 min

Photograph by Marcus J. Leith

Exhibition view of Mathias Poledna / Florian Pumhösl, Raven Row, 2011

Photograph by Marcus J. Leith

Florian Pumhösl

Fliegende Händler [Travelling Hawkers], 2011

Acrylic lacquer paint applied to the reverse of 2mm glass panels, each 66.5 × 45cm

Photograph by Marcus J. Leith

Florian Pumhösl

Fliegende Händler [Travelling Hawkers], 2011

Acrylic lacquer paint applied to the reverse of 2mm glass panels, each 66.5 × 45cm

Photograph by Marcus J. Leith

Florian Pumhösl

Fliegende Händler [Travelling Hawkers], 2011

Acrylic lacquer paint applied to the reverse of 2mm glass panels, each 66.5 × 45cm

Photograph by Marcus J. Leith

Florian Pumhösl

Fliegende Händler [Travelling Hawkers], 2011

Acrylic lacquer paint applied to the reverse of 2mm glass panels, each 66.5 × 45cm

Photograph by Marcus J. Leith

Florian Pumhösl

Fliegende Händler [Travelling Hawkers], 2011

Acrylic lacquer paint applied to the reverse of 2mm glass panels, each 66.5 × 45cm

Photograph by Marcus J. Leith

Florian Pumhösl

Fliegende Händler [Travelling Hawkers], 2011

Acrylic lacquer paint applied to the reverse of 2mm glass panels, each 66.5 × 45cm

Photograph by Marcus J. Leith

Florian Pumhösl

Fliegende Händler [Travelling Hawkers], 2011

Acrylic lacquer paint applied to the reverse of 2mm glass panels, each 66.5 × 45cm

Photograph by Marcus J. Leith

Florian Pumhösl

Fliegende Händler [Travelling Hawkers], 2011

Acrylic lacquer paint applied to the reverse of 2mm glass panels, each 66.5 × 45cm

Photograph by Marcus J. Leith