Information
About the Exhibition
Urban Spree Galerie presents "The Weight of the World is Love", a solo show by the Helsinki-based artist EGS.
Running in parallel with Jonni Cheatwood's "Second Wind", "The Weight of the World is Love" is the successor show of "Concrete Reflections", the first solo exhibition of EGS at Urban Spree in 2021.
This new presentation of works will display the many different talents of the Finnish artist with a particular focus on both the "Penpals" and "New World Balance" bodies of work.
The "New World Balance" series of works takes leverage on world (dis)order with their large maps of (chaotic) geopolitical representations, inked and dripped, chiselled by the artist's 3 letters (E for America, G for Europe and S for Asia), a procédé he uses very often in his works, linking the graffiti practice of tagging his name to a post-graffiti, contemporary universe. And as much as the "New World Balance" series impregrates the world stage, "International Penpals" refocuses the attention on the local stage, a microcosmic and stylized view of travelling seen through the lens of graffiti writers, exchange of drawings into blackbooks and pre-internet age face-to-face meetings.
EGS: New Wolrd Balance #1, ink and spray on canvas, 2022
Since many years now, in parallel to his paintings, the artist has been perfecting his glass sculpture practice, hand-blowing his 3 letters E-G-S into sculptures made of 3 pieces. He creates objects that are as much an extension of his letters as organic, free-form shapes.
About the artist:
EGS (born 1974) is a Finnish visual artist. The name EGS originates from his graffiti tag, as he began his career when the first wave of graffiti hit Finland in the mid-1980s. Since then, and while still active in graffiti, the artist has transmutated his style into different directions, towards an abstrated practice of graffiti, using painting, drawing, sculpture, blown glass and installations in search of meaning, mostly in the wake of the collapse of the USSR and the recomposition of Europe, exploring ruins, concrete surfaces, abandoned collective farm chicken houses, missile silos and the notion of impermanence.
His latest show ”EGS - This Could Go On Forever” was an exhibition at Serlachius Museums in Finland.
EGS: The Weight of the World is Love
12 May 2023 - 01 July 2023
Vernissage: 12 May 2023 / 18:00-22:00
Urban Spree Galerie
Revaler Str. 99
10245 Berlin
Info & Catalogue: pascal@urbanspree.com
