How to pay back the sun?

The Center for Openness and Dialogue (COD) is pleased to present “How to pay back the sun?”, an exhibition by Berlin-based artist Dennis Buck. In “How to pay back the sun?”, Buck shows the rigorously structured approach to art making that has come to define his paintings and works of paper over the past years. The works feature the process of Buck’s sun bleached textiles from start to finish. The artist’s first institutional solo exhibition will be on view from June 10th – July 9th, 2023 in Tirana, Albania. The exhibition’s greater emphasis on the showcasing of the process points to a new direction in Buck’s work. Paintings such as Central Park Blues, 2023 feature dyed and then sun-bleached textiles. Other works such International Tanning, 2023 document the bleaching process. For years, Buck has produced his sun-bleached paintings in various countries, from the Mojave Desert, to Sicily, to Berlin or for this exhibition on the rooftop of the Opera in Tirana. The textiles lay out in the open weather for about 3-6 weeks, depending on the location. Partly covered from the sun, the UV rays extract the color from the material, and through unforeseen weather conditions, introducing a sense of chance within Buck’s otherwise precise command over typography and form. In the work, Step 3-5, 2023 Buck displays the actual bleaching process within a floor installation. Consisting of various sized textiles, some covered with a transparent hard PVC sheet and stones laying on all corners of the materials. Buck initially conceived the work as an experiment inviting the viewer almost into a studio like situation under different circumstances. Further delivering an understanding of the unusual and often complicated production process, while also referencing floor works from Richard Long to Christian Boltanski, Harmony Hammond, and Olga Balema. Buck also incorporates silicone, sun bleached silk or cotton scraps and aluminium into his 5 part work, It’s private, 2023, a grid like curtain. To produce the work, Buck recycles the cut outs from previously stretched, sun bleached works and sticks it onto fresh silicone letters. Like his canvas works, the curtains emphasise the experiential use of material and typography, process, and coincidence. The solidity of the aluminium juxtaposed with the wobbly condition of the curtain imbues the works with a sense of imperfection and impermanence. For “How to pay back the sun?”, Buck turned special attention to the presentation of the procedure, inviting the viewer into the sun bleaching method. By divulging previously concealed aspects of his artistic practice, which typically remain secluded within the confines of his studio, Buck provides a rare glimpse into his creative process. Simultaneously his works abound poetic-like memories of biographical events and showcase his profound interest in the abutment between an anxious and sometimes troubled memory and the soft and harmonic aesthetics of Bucks work.