MBzwo are proud to present „Visual Resonance“ our new exhibition project showcased in the MBzwo showroom at Rummelsbucht, Berlin.

Visual Resonance
Artists: Lilian Mühlenkamp, Esther Valerie Riegler, Christopher Kieling, Moritz Berg, Katsuhiko Matsubara
10 June -  12 August, 2023
MBzwo Showroom,  Berlin

Hidden inside the modern art market, academic studies and art historic “facts”, viewing art can quickly be perceived to be inac- cessible. What often is lost is the fact that art doesn’t need to be understood intellectually or that there is always a specific meaning or concept that needs to be deducted by the viewer.

Rather than thinking about what the specific content of the paint- ings is, what historical or societal commentary it may contain or what methods have been used and how this relates to past developments in the world of art we want to invite the viewer to use the visual impulses to look inwards and take time for personal contemplation.

Abstract expressionist Mark Rothko used music as a reference when talking about his artistic expression, because music moves people without being fully understood or quantifiable. Music has an emo- tional quality that we cannot grasp within our linguistic and logical capabilities. It can be seen as an extension of our own reality, but also as a means of reflecting and enriching our perception of reality by listening to certain music in certain moods or on certain occasions.

In his book The Art of Spiritual Harmony, Wassily Kandinsky expressed a similar idea in his thoughts on artistic composition and its effects on the human spirit. For him, art is about the continuous discovery and pursuit of spiritual enlightenment rather than a tool to represent and interpret our physical environment.

He sees this ideal realized in the realm of music because, as a non- visual art form, it is a powerful medium for the expression of one’s feelings and the creation of a composition that can develop a life or frequency of its own and transcends the concrete experiences of the external world.

According to him, visual artists should pursue the same goal – over- coming the emulation of nature in order to portray their inner worlds and achieve new heights of artistic expression through abstract com- position.

The sensation of expressive music and art can lead to beautiful and surprising re-compositions of the perception of our environment and our inner life. With this in mind, we want to encourage our viewers to open up to the subjective feelings and emotions that art can evoke, just as the artist himself infuses his feelings and intuition into his works.

“Lend your ears to music, open your eyes to painting and … stop thinking! Just ask yourself if the work has allowed you to ‘walk around’ in a previously unknown world. If the answer is yes, what more do you want?”

Wassily Kandinsky

Moritz Berg focuses on the impact of a nature informed en- vironment and its aesthetic impressions on one. He translates these impressions into abstract formations through his artistic process. This concept is informed by the principle of a mind- ful perception of our environment and relates to the idea of a passive presence of the mind. This allows Berg to perceive his surroundings without the boundaries of our socio-cultural in- formed filters that often disconnect us from the world.
“My aesthetic reaction is not retrieved from memory, or derived from social norms. Thus the individual aesthetic sensation and its effect can be explored.”
Moritz Berg was born in 1994 near Stuttgart, Germany. In 2021 he graduated with a MSc in Architecture and Urban Plan- ning at the University of Stuttgart. Since 2018 he has partici- pated in various group exhibitions and art fairs in London (at Gallery 46), Vienna (at Parallel Vienna with Galerie Tassilo Usner) and Düsseldorf (Soif). He is currently represented by Alzueta Gallery (Barcelona/Madrid, Spain), Galerie Tassilo Usner (Salzburg, Austria) and Gallery Rath (Austin TX, USA). It will be his first group exhibition in Berlin.

Esther Valerie Riegler’s sculptural works always have a strong physical presence and often evoke a feeling of bodies that are torn between a multitude of inner processes. Through her ex- pressive shaping of a wide variety of materials she succeeds in translating often unclear and mostly hidden emotional or envi- ronmental states into visible but still ambiguous manifestations, that escape a clear definition but nevertheless have a strong visual and emotional impact on the viewer.
“For me, art has very fine sensory purposes. It serves as a means of making things tangible on a non-cognitive level.“
Esther Valerie Riegler was born in Austria. At a young age, she lived for 8 years in a cohousing project in Austria called Pomali. This experience taught her the importance, but also the challenges of living in community, which she still sees as an important influence today. In 2020 she completed her training as a sculptor at the HTBLA Hallstatt and afterwards studied at the Alanus Kunsthochschule, Bonn. In her work she is not averse to any material as long as it is ecologically justifiable, working for example with stone, earth, snow, wood or metal. Entering a dialogue with the characteristics of the chosen material poses a significant part of her process.
She has participated in various international symposia in Denmark, Germany and Norway and has shown her work in group exhibitions in Berlin (Galerie M, Galerie Panketal), Stuttgart (Kunst Stuttgart International e.V.) and Salzburg (KUNST für KUNST). She currently lives and works in Berlin and is additionally working in the artist studios of Julia Thurnau and Alicja Kwade.

Christopher Kieling’s works invite us to reflect on the “construction” of our reality, highlighting aesthetic qualities that are often overlooked in our fast-paced lives. His motives vary greatly, but what is constantly present is his almost monumental depiction of reality. Through the disclosure of visual reference marks or only partially depicted subjects, his highly realistic style develops almost abstract qualities provoking viewers to fill and expand the impressions with the impulses of their own consciousness.
“His composition are often stage-like; creating a dialogue between his protagonists and their surroundings. Props and expressive gestures compose a narrative which the viewer is challenged to untangle.”
Berlin-based artist Christopher Kieling (b. 1988) graduated from Central Saint Martins with a BA in Graphic Design. Inspired by contemporary painters like Neo Rauch and Euan Uglow, Kieling begins to explore figurative compositions in 2014. In 2020 his meticulously planned Sierra paintings caught the attention of international galleries and resulted in an inaugural solo exhibition at Grove Square Galleries in London the same year.
Kieling’s work has been the subject of numerous solo exhibitions including Uli Fischer Galerie (Berlin); Cornelia Walter Galerie (Munich) and The Book Club (London). As well as representations at national and international art fairs including SIAF (Salzburg); ARTMUC (Munich); STROKE Art Fair (Munich); Kunstmesse Regensburg (Regensburg); BCN Art Fair (Barcelona) and KUBOSHOW (Herne).
In 2010 Kieling was the recipient of BarTur photography award and the University of the Arts London degree show CAN Audience Award.

Katsuhiko Matsubara depicts vibrant “inner landscapes” or “fictional ecosystems on canvas”, which can be described as “spiritual microcosms” that oscillate between material and immaterial expressions and are strongly influenced by the philosophical concept of animism, an idea deeply rooted in Japanese culture. Through the vast depth and detail, his paint- ings develop an engulfing presence in the room, coming alive in front of the viewer through a constant exchange between matter and spirit.
“He treats the paintings as living beings. In a way, it is more like growing a painting than the actual image painting as an act itself. It is comparable to observing the great variety of plants and organisms flourishing in a garden. It is about picking up the vision as the voice that each painting carries within itself and helping it to sprout.“
Katsuhiko Matsubara was born in 1986 in Tokyo, Japan. In 2021 he graduated with a BFA in painting in the class of Anselm Reyle at HFBK Hamburg and was nominated for the prize of the Rainer Wild Art Foundation. In 2019 he participated in the international studio program of Künstlerhaus Bethanien Berlin with a Grant of the Yoshino Gypsum Art Foundation. Earlier this year he had his first solo exhibition at Galerie RX (Paris). Since 2017 he has participated in numerous group exhibitions (among others) in Spiral Garden (Tokyo), Bar-Am (Berlin), Künstlerhaus Bethanien (Berlin), Westwerk (Hamburg) and Galeria Noah (Augsburg). Matsubara lives and works in Berlin.

 Photo: Laila Schubert, Denis Hasanovic