disTANZ ::: thematische Gruppenausstellung

In the organizer's words:

disTANZ in the xpon-art gallery

:::

A thematic group exhibition of contemporary art, performance and dance about proximity and distance

Opening with performance on Thursday, July 31, 2025 at 7 pm

Open afterwards until August 31, 2025

three performances at the finissage

:::

A kaleidoscope-like dialog on proximity and distance unfolds between 18 positions. Grid-like hangings of photographs, drawings and herbaria are interrupted by body-related glass art, objects and a kinetic installation. Bodies and movement as a means of art are documented in video, photography and light boxes. Four live performances and dance productions round off the exhibition.

:::

Participating artists:

Chiara Bulang, Dasha Shift, falk.brvt (Falk von Traubenberg), Lena Heeschen, Leonie Diehl, Maria Gibert, Maike Kretzer, Mariyam Obregón Lutzin, Michael Perlbach, Norbert Hingst, Suse Tietjen, Stilla Seis, V3 (Veruschka Bohn), Yuan Xue

Performances:

Viktor Braun (Vernissage)

Simone Fezer and Sarah Maria Serve; Jella Krüger, Lotte Sophie Marburg (finissage)

:::

The photo series "apperience" by MARIA GIBERT explores the tension between proximity and distance through the visual movement of light and body. The combination of traces of light, fragmented movements and blurs creates a space of encounter - without touching. The photographs dissolve the moment and transform it into a physical-spatial experience in which distance does not mean absence, but scope for perception.

In contrast to the classic snapshot, apperience evokes an afterimage that is not static but dynamic - flickering, open, indeterminate. The viewer becomes part of a rhythmic shifting of presence and absence that makes the coolness of distance just as tangible as the emotional closeness in the in-between.

Like Maria Gibert,SUSE TIETJEN works at the Erika Klütz Schule für Theatertanz und Tanzpädagogik and was the artistic director as well as the dramaturge for the opening performance and the solo performances of the two students at the finissage.

falk.brvt (FALK VON TRAUBENBERG) explores the relationship between body, space and structure in his work. His self-portraits are performative stagings in a square - reduced, clear and at the same time full of meaning. The viewer becomes part of a silent yet powerful self-questioning.

Two houses stand on a square surface. The surface is littered with nicks, dark spots, traces of violence and destruction. It is unbearably black in the middle, becoming lighter towards the edges. The houses also show signs of damage and battle scars - they have leaned away from each other. What was it like in the beginning? How did love, passion and closeness develop into hatred and the desire for distance? MICHAEL PERLBACH 's work does not provide an answer - but perhaps the corresponding question.

"Zwischenräume" is a fragmentary poetic dialog piece by CHIARA BULANG in which the speakers (A and B) move in a linguistic and physical interspace. They remain connected and separate at the same time, playing with uncertainties, distance and closeness, intimacy, the unspoken. The text oscillates between openness and withdrawal, between visibility and disappearance. The language itself becomes a body: breathing, groping, searching. Distance is revealed here in the space in between, between two bodies, between words and between moments. What is missing becomes just as meaningful as what is said.

"Daily Tracking 2022" is an experiment in which YUAN XUE followed strangers in public for a week, exploring the mental interaction with strangers and the connection between passive and active. Different ages, people and professions created different paths, breaking up the artist's geographical perception of familiar areas. The intervention of personal behaviors in public places and different social roles were revealed.

"So, Will the Grass Yield a Path?" asks YUAN XUE in a second work: the vegetation in the forest, the wild grass by the river, the greenery on the roof, the sprouts in the cracks, the tufts of grass on the sidewalk, the planted greenery in the middle of the street, the potted plants at home and the green plants in the office - you walk past them all, the paths become either wide or narrow.

The kinetic light installation "91R" is part of a series of material, light and movement studies by artist LENA HEESCHEN. The three light bodies of the installation constantly take up new positions in the space through different states of movement - sometimes they approach each other, sometimes they move away from each other, sometimes they almost seem to collide in a field of tension between energy and monotony, between poetry and aggression.

"Circles" is a photography-based project that reflects on how the feeling of home disappears - a place to which one can no longer return. Using older images taken through binoculars from a former apartment window, DASHA SHIFT reassembles a fragmented panorama of a once familiar view. The circular images recreate the binoculars - a tool that brings things closer and flattens them at the same time. This visual compression reflects the attempt to reconnect with the place. The photos were taken in Moscow in 2020. The work is from 2025.

Hüseyin Kahraman is an actor. But just a few years ago, he was homeless, disoriented, without hope. He found his way back into life through trust, acceptance, love and willpower. For him, distance means distance from the old. Francesco Fasano is a ballet dancer. He has been living his dream since he could walk. For him, dance means everything in his life. No matter where he is. NORBERT HINGST brings both into context with photography.

SARAH MARIA SERVE and SIMONE FEZER jointly develop prosthesis-like appendages based on the artificial fingernails mainly used by female readers. In the oversized versions made of steel and glass, the applications become claws, weapons and transformative tools. In a performance, the artists deal with approaches and distances: they explore the taking of space and the complementary and complementary forces of repulsion and approach, attack and seduction. At the finissage, the artists will perform live with objects. The photos are by Jonathan Zwiener and Johanna Jelina Horn. Sarah Maria Serve's final project "Körper Wissen Wäre Macht" (Body Knowledge Would Be Power) at the AbK Stuttgart is on display upstairs.

In STILLA SEIS 's work, proximity and distance come together in a moving convergence. From a distance, an indeterminate object can be recognized as a close-up. Its elements seem to bounce rhythmically across the segments of the picture. From close up, incisions can be seen in the surface of the photographs, revealing the individual colors of the underlying layers.

In a world characterized by a flood of advertising, political polarization and agitation, VERUSCHKA BOHN aka V3 raises her voice and body as a sign of resistance in collaborations with artists such as the feminist collective Pussy Riot as well as solo. She creates installations in collaboration with the media collective Humatic.

The transformation of public spaces into stages has been an essential part of her performance art since the beginning. With Boxes [he/her], she deprived advertising spaces in the Berlin subway of their advertising mandate for a few seconds and secretly added performances to everyday city life.

MARIYAM OBREGÓN LUTZIN deals with sign systems as carriers of cultural narratives. In her works, she examines how narrative is conveyed or remembered through writing, numbers and form. In the exhibition, the photography is complemented by a small porcelain plate depicting symbols of joy, anger and sadness. The juxtaposition of photography and ceramics creates a poetic resonance space between intimacy and abstraction, between documented reality and emotional coding. Closeness is not articulated through words, but through the body: skin, pose and posture. A dialog about belonging, friendship, non-verbal communication and the subtle codes of a generation emerges between gestural engraving and digitally embossed gesture.

In her installation "Tropogon",LEONIE DIEHL shows the flying seeds of the meadow buckbean (Tragopogon pratensis), which can cover distances of up to 10 kilometers depending on the weather conditions. In abstract herbaria, they come together in a new order. On closer inspection, the inconspicuous seeds, collected throughout Germany, captivate with their complex details and allow us to marvel at the techniques found in the plant world that ensure their survival.

MAIKE KRETZER captures the moments between closeness and distance with sober, precise lines. In excerpts from a series of a total of 334 sheets in A4 format with mixed techniques on paper, she shows distances of all kinds, here "couples". She reacts to the resulting surfaces with color. Emotions.

In his performance Close, Not Touching,VIKTOR BRAUN explores the sensual potential of the in-between - groping, listening, unresolvable; the moment just before touching - a space full of tension, friction and restraint. Skin meets textile, body nestles against surface without giving itself over completely. Viktor Braun perform(ed) at the vernissage, followed by a photograph referencing the event.

Two solo performances by JELLA KRÜGER and LOTTE SOPHIE MARBURG at the finissage reflect the influences of Isadora Duncan, pioneer of modern dance, and Mary Wigman, pioneer of German expressive dance. The focus is on the tension between closeness and distance - how the traces left behind by these women continue to have an effect in their own bodies today without being fully appropriated. The result is a modern dialog that combines personal reflection and dance-historical heritage. The film accompanying Jella Krüger's performance is by Laura Schepers.

:::

If you have any questions, please contact us; if you are thirsty, too. We don't offer anything we wouldn't drink ourselves, drinks are available for a donation. Free admission, because everyone should have access to culture. However, you are welcome to make a donation if you would otherwise honor it. We conceive these exhibitions and run this space because we think it is important that there are constant and challenging positions between state museums and commercial galleries on the one hand and changing platforms for emerging art on the other - on the one hand to better promote artists, and on the other to create a more vibrant culture for the dialog between art and society. We mix established artists with newcomers. What interests us is the quality and the potential. If you would like to support this work, please contact us - or simply recommend us to others.

The narratives in this exhibition were created by the artists. The text was edited by Gerald Chors.

:::

Duration:

Saturday, July 31, 2025 to Sunday, August 31, 2025

Opening hours:

Saturdays, Sundays, Mondays and Tuesdays 6 - 9 p.m. (and by appointment)

Vernissage:

Saturday, July 31, 2025 at 7 p.m. (performance starts at 8 p.m.)

Finissage:

Sunday, 31.08.2025 11 a.m. - 4 p.m. (performance starts at 2 p.m.)

Venue:

xpon-art gallery

Repsoldstraße 45

20097 Hamburg

www.xpon -art.de

:::

We will inform you about deviating opening hours on our homepage, our Instagram account @xponartgallery and our Facebook page facebook.com/xponart

After the exhibition, 360° views will be added to the homepage, especially for those who are unable to visit.

Despite everything, we ask you to think about Corona and the flu epidemic and to behave accordingly.

:::

With the kind support of the Hamburg Ministry of Culture and Media

:::

Price information:

Free admission, because everyone should have access to culture. However, you are welcome to make a donation if you would otherwise honor it. Drinks are available for a donation. We don't offer anything that we wouldn't drink ourselves. We conceive these exhibitions and run this space because we think it is important that there are constant and challenging positions between state museums and commercial galleries on the one hand and changing platforms for emerging art on the other - on the one hand to better promote artists who are not yet established, and on the other to create a more vibrant culture for communication between art and the public.