SOCIAL PACIFIER – Leonie Specht & Christian Kölbl

Leonie Specht (born 1994) deals with what is hidden in people and opens up pictorial spaces in which inner worlds and outer worlds exist simultaneously. Using symbols and ornaments, the painter introduces viewers to the meta-levels of perception between consciousness and subconsciousness. Specht's works revolve around the concepts of mythology, fantasy, the supernatural and magic in which the archetypes she depicts appear cute, playful and often whimsical. She sees her paintings as portals that lead to another world or a deeper realm within the self. The dimension lies in one's own imagination, the painting is only the entrance to the actual journey into the unconscious. Specht (born 1994) studied at the Seoul National University in Korea, the Accademia di Belle Arti di Brera Milano, the Berlin University of the Arts and the Hochschule für Gestaltung in Offenbach. She lives and works in Berlin. - Everyday consumer experiences form the background to the conceptual art of Christian Kölbl (born 1994). Art's remedies, their risks and side effects are the theme of his works on display in the gallery: Cover pictures of the magazine "Texte zur Kunst" now adorn the cover of "Apotheken Umschau", and Kölbl's self-created "drogues de cologne" is the apparent path to the ultimate cure. Kölbl's works are ambivalent and provocative. The installation "Wer wird Millionär?" invites you to shake hands. The artist's hand is therefore tangible, but which one is the real one? As in the tv show, there are 4 options, only one is the right one and thus the way to the goal. Kölbl works with renowned perfumers for his olfactory creations. He created NEUWAGEN with Marc vom Ende & for "drogues de cologne" he worked with perfumer Christopher Pickel. The composition is very bitter, reminiscent of medicine, crushed tablets and contains a scent that drug-sniffing dogs jump at. Not the ideal perfume for a long-distance trip, but absolutely wearable. Christian Kölbl (born 1994) studied painting and graphic art at the Academy of Visual Arts Leipzig under Prof. Michael Riedl, completed a guest study program with Tobias Rehberger at the Städelschule and founded the art space CK-Offspace in 2019. Kölbl lives and works in Berlin. - At first glance, the works of Christian Kölbl and Leonie Specht could not be more different, but they are both reflected in the title of the exhibition SOCIAL PACIFIER. The "social pacifier" describes a behavior or an object that people use to calm or comfort themselves in social situations - be it in the form of smartphones, chewing gum or other small calming rituals. In the context of this exhibition, it is the places and themes that Leonie Specht and Christian Kölbl introduce us to. On the one hand delicate with portals to magical worlds, on the other provocative and ambivalent.