ARTISTS TALKING

# 1 [17 October 2009]

Dominic Allan . Nikos Alexiou . Alex Bunn . Andrew Hladky . Bern Roche Farrelly .Stine Ljungdalh . Christina Mitrentse . Jonas Ranson . Lee Wagstaff . Marc Wayland

The exhibition Celestial Contrakt navigates through the terrain of the ‘celestial and ‘ethereal’ in an attempt to offer different entry and exit points to the theme and suggests alternate possibilities within the experiential environments. Schwartz Gallery is formed as an uncharted territory which provisionally describes two conceptions of artworks as ‘terrestrial’ and ‘celestial’. These create non-linear journeys that look beyond Materialist thought. The project brings artist and viewer together to a conception in which the ‘terrestrial’ world does not yet exist and can only arise in the sphere of the imagination.

 A diverse group of international and London-based artists become wanderers in space and time, drawing from a vast fluid field of collective ideas. The celestial as the nocturnal experience filters through from anthropological investigations, focusing on the ontological dimension; the impulse of irrationality in scientific and architectural artifacts and the surreal poetics of contemporary technology which appear to have cosmological associations.

Organised ,funded and curated by C.Mitrentse & Jonas Ranson the exhibition presented at Schwartz Gallery premises Hackney wick ,London.

# 2 [27 October 2009]

Celestial Contrakt - a group multidisciplinary project organised and curated by London based artist Christina Mitrentse and  artist/printmaker Jonas Ranson. The project has been presented at Schwartz gallery premises at Hackney wick next to olympic site 2012 as it necessitates large dimensions of space.

(the project has been Selected at Top 5 shows in London by Time Out as part of First Thursdays programme that will include talks and an  late private viewing of audience brought by whitechapel gallery).

Having met in 2008 whilst working on an international production at NDSM-werf, in Amsterdam, the duo have gone on to work together on numerous projects including their most recent collaboration for the public project commission at Greenwich Foot Tunnel in 2009. Mitrentse and Ranson have a shared creative context within which to explore similarities and differences arising from one another artistic practices. 

Once again they come together in the Celestial Contrakt, a project that has developed from their common desire to push artistic practices concerned conceptually and aesthetically with the theme of the Celestial realm. ‘We intend to offer an internal reading of the Celestial world and not an objective’ description’ 

# 3 [11 November 2009]

Internationally acclaimed Artist Nikos Alexiou arrives in London to sett up his floor installation Grid as part of the show Celestial Contrakt'.  Setting up his installation was an extremely dynamic process. The black floor background Nikos and I decided to include within the piece after considering  the space and other works on display has given an interesting shift to our curatorial decisions and the entire project!  Working with Nikos for hours in the gallery was not the first time but now it seemed much more warm and dialectic process as well as positively a valuable element within such moments of hard work.

We look forward to spend time out with our Greek friend and the artists part of Celestial Contrakt around the Olympic site London 2012  and of course will see you at the private viewing.!!!

# 4 [26 November 2009]

Thanks to all visitor who attended the Private viewing at Celestial Contrakt.It was a massive success according to the viewers, thanks to all these crowed stayed watching performances and live tunes until late! Some pics from the show!

Important artist and cultural people attended the show and enjoyed works by a diverse mixture of emerging artist but also internationally acclaimed artist Niko Alexiou.www.nikosalexiou.com