Press Release

ANDREAS KOCKS: CANNONBALL

MAY 3 THROUGH JUNE 9, 2007

Jeannie Freilich Fine Art is pleased to present a new installation and small scale paperworks by Andreas Kocks (born 1960, Oberhausen, Germany). A catalog titled Unframed will be forthcoming with texts by Bruce W. Ferguson and Wilhelm Christoph Warning.

There will be a reception for the artist on May 3rd from 6 to 8 p.m. - please join us.

Andreas Kocks’ work focuses on the integration of fine art and architecture. By cutting into paper and installing multiple layers in a site-specific place- he transforms the “contained architectural box” into a territorial surface. The walls of the architecture no longer define the space; Kocks modifies the conventional cube, and removes its innate banality into a cerebral experience.

This exhibition features the installation entitled Cannonball. Here inky graphite splashes spill up the wall and surrounds the viewer, as if they have jumped into a fathomless pool. The results of their presence in the gallery, has left a frozen impression of their “diving” a-la-cannonball, into the space. Kocks has “tagged” the walls in a deliberate way but has also left an implied trace of the viewer’s passive action. Mounted in several layers on the wall, these large installation pieces transform the orthogonal architectural room into an event. Kocks invites the viewer to move and change their position thus modifying his or her viewpoint.

This exhibition also includes a light white piece, as a robust contrast to the denseness of the Cannonball piece. This graceful relief-like quality can also be found in the smaller intimate works, where graphite mixed with water, stains heavy watercolor paper, and are then embellished by carved lines. Here Kocks shows his mastery of subtlety and process.

Andreas Kocks received his MFA from the Kunstakademie Düsseldorf, Germany. Kocks' work has been shown in galleries and museums in Europe and in the United States. His most recent award was the Pollock-Krasner Grant, New York in 2006/07.

Gallery hours are Monday through Saturday, 10am to 6pm. Please call Rebecca Adib for checklist or further information.