Adib Fricke | HOW TO LOOK AT WORDS
Writing as something to look at has its place in the gallery's program. So far exclusively in the section 'handwritten', that is drawing. Adib Fricke's work is not at all about handwritten drawings but about words set in block letters. A work on written language that engages in a multiply varied breach of word, a literal breaking, crossing through and at the same time pimping of the word. Fricke's 'HOW TO LOOK AT WORDS' approaches the word this side of its communicative context and signification. Over the last some 30 years he has created a magnificent world of words. The stripped-back, minimalist typography he developed remains grounded in the common aesthetics of the world of type and letters that surrounds us, but his words are composed and in bold color. They have their extravagant life of their own, which, in their materiality and physicality, they share with us readers. Whether panel painting, large-format poster, or installation work in space, the set words remain unspoken and show up to our reading in their colorful appearance. Even in his works with orthographically and grammatically correct sentences, we encounter this quiet self-referentiality yet of bold presence. Thus, our looking at Fricke's treasury of words is immediately followed by a reverberation, a lingering monologue that even has an approximate voice: one's own.
solo show from 22 April to 19 May 2023 | opening 22 April from 6pm
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