JOHN ASLANIDIS

SONIC NETWORK No.15

JULY 23 – SEPTEMBER 30  2016

PROSECCO BERLIN in cooperation with HILGEMANN PROJECTS is pleased to welcome Melbourne based artist John Aslanidis for the exhibition of his large scale painting Sonic Network no.15 oil and acryl on canvas 244x305cm (8x10ft).

Opening reception : Friday July 22nd, 7-9pm at Prosecco Berlin, Rosa-Luxemburg-Strasse 26, 10178 Berlin

Sound Spheres

For over twenty years artist John Aslanidis has defined a space between sound and vision, through seeking to create “paintings you can hear and sound you can see”. His paintings take the form of numerous interlocking and exponentially expanding concentric circles that are painstakingly mapped and masked out, and evolve from an intersection between music and painting.  This stream of artistic interrogation has a historical lineage that stretches back to the beginning of the 20th century and the birth of international modernism, yet the musical genre that Aslanidis responds to is rooted in the electronic music movement that came to prominence in the 1990s. Creating paintings of vibrational vibrancy that actively engage with the science and perception of sound – his work reflects a confluence of visual and aural stimuli that also mirrors the phenomena of synesthesia, where the senses become blended. These are paintings that are experienced by the body, and as such reclaim a contemplative awareness of the senses within the rush and tumble of the digital consumer age.

There are a number of analogies between music and the way Aslanidis constructs his paintings. The most obvious is his labour intensive process of masking out and exposing individual concentric circles, which are subsequently painted to create alternating curved lines of colour and tone. This results in a rhythmic oscillation between different colours that gives visual form to the pulse of a beat. The complexity is compounded when large masses of concentric circles overlap, perhaps suggesting the confluence of more than one bass line present in electronic music. This merge of larger forms often creates a moirépattern in the work, which is an unpredictable outcome that in musical terms simulates the audible interference that occurs when two frequencies of a lower sonic register (like bass-lines) move in and out of consonance.

The aesthetic of Aslanidis’ work also draws upon physical phenomena present within nature. Much like the incursion of an object into water that creates infinitely expanding ripples, sound waves are essentially just vibrating air, and it is as if Aslanidis gives visual form to these invisible vibrations that cause auditory experience. His paintings that theoretically could continue to grow infinitely following the repetition of the process as each circle is laid upon the next are limited only by the edge of the canvas. As such they seem to “capture a fragment of infinity”, a conscious motive in his art.

excerpt:  ‘Sound Spheres’ by Marguerite Brown, for Art Monthly Australia

The artist presently is taking part in the International Studio and Curatorial Program New York, USA. His personal exhibition in NYC will be inaugurated at Ethan Cohen Gallery in September 2016.

Along side Sonic network No.15 a new set of fine art pigment prints will be presented at Prosecco Berlin. Edition Sonic Network no.15, 13, 12, 11, 9. Fine Art Pigment Print, Hahnemuehle Museum Etching Paper 350g, each 90 x 110cm, edition 25