{"id":13734,"date":"2014-05-15T15:43:23","date_gmt":"2014-05-15T13:43:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.sleek-mag.com\/?p=13734"},"modified":"2014-05-15T15:43:23","modified_gmt":"2014-05-15T13:43:23","slug":"taking-aim-at-post-internet-arts-detractors-ned-vena-at-societe","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.sleek-mag.com\/de\/article\/taking-aim-at-post-internet-arts-detractors-ned-vena-at-societe\/","title":{"rendered":"Taking aim at post-internet art's detractors: Ned Vena at Soci\u00e9t\u00e9"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\" Installation view, Ned Vena, “Menace II Soci\u00e9t\u00e9\u201d<\/p>\n

Berlin’s Gallery Weekend poses a challenge for curators. The city is not well-known for its art market, so, when buyers come to town, it’s best to make the most of the opportunity. This task is not an easy one, and it can sometimes feel like galleries are marketing to out-of-town buyers (those well-dressed passengers chauffeured in shiny black cars) rather than taking curatorial risks. After all, there is some art in the process of mixing business with pleasure.<\/p>\n

Despite the sometimes conservative offerings on show some galleries managed to produce exciting work this year. A particular standout was at the gallery Soci\u00e9t\u00e9. Nestled in one of the seedier parts of Sch\u00f6neberg (think “Christiane F.”), Soci\u00e9t\u00e9 balances market appeal with curatorial boldness in its presentation of paintings by American artist Ned Vena, entitled \u201cMenace II Soci\u00e9t\u00e9\u201d.<\/p>\n

Vena is a painter who builds on the very American tradition of minimalism and abstraction. Influenced by artists such as Frank Stella, with wisps of Kenneth Noland, Vena\u2019s paintings add to the dialogue of his contemporaries, most notably that of Wade Guyton. The artist’s style is rooted in the art history of New York, where he lives and works, but avoids being dull through its combination of sensitivity, humor and conceptual rigour. The attitude the works convey is comparable to paintings by Joe Bradley: a dry wit that is conscious of history but not stifled by it. However, what really sets the artist apart is his use of unconventional materials. Long gone are acrylics and oils, instead replaced by industrial-grade rubber and vinyl. Using spray cans and adhesive, each painting is produced using a unique set of processes, executed with the aid of an industrial cartographic machine.<\/p>\n

\"\" Ned Vena, Target Painting GGG (Plug), 2014. Polyurethane and rubber on linen, motor. 162.5 x 3.2 cm \/ 64 x 1.2 inches. Courtesy Soci\u00e9t\u00e9<\/p>\n

Walking up the dusty stairs to Soci\u00e9t\u00e9 you are immediately struck by a sharp chemical smell that hits you in the back of your nostrils. Industrial-grade rubber mats line the floor of the gallery – the type you see in kitchens or bars – and emit a strong, synthetic odour. As the smell wafts through the building, air purifiers hum in the background – a futile attempt at sensory relief. You find plastered cheap vinyl stickers emblazoned with the slogan \u201cMenace II Soci\u00e9t\u00e9\u201d in the oddest places, a wry reference to graffiti culture. The paintings themselves are large circular “targets” that play havoc with the eyes. Reminiscent of TV test patterns, they produce trippy visual patterns that echo in the sides of your vision as you traverse the space. Upon close inspection, each painting is rich with texture. Thick, black rubber extrudes from canvas. The rubber is jagged, as if it’s about to jump off. Adjacent are smooth, soft, white lines that rest quietly and humbly. Each painting is similar – a play on the same process, but with a difference that emerges through Vena’s very human participation in the\u00a0 mechanical processes of their production.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u00a0In a notorious blog post entitled “Why I hate Post-Internet Art”<\/a>, writer and critic Brian Droitcour raised some critical points on the rise of post-internet art. Among the accusations were that it was poorly made, failed to activate space and preened for the camera – the scene around Soci\u00e9t\u00e9 was described as bad too. The word post-internet has a tragicomic ring to it, but it’s something that can be best viewed as a placeholder more than anything else. I don’t think anyone takes the term seriously anymore – besides about five speculative investors who bought up big and will profit off it in a few years’ time. Indeed some points made by Droitcour are valid: it’s a shame when works look good online but fail to meet expectations in person. However, the consequence of painting a scene or gallery with a thick brush is that the image can become distorted and inaccurate.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n

Vena’s paintings, by contrast, are well-made. They activate space and don’t preen for the camera. They are works that look decent online, but really shine when experienced in person. Vena’s approach of placing precedence on materiality is one valid reaction to an increasingly dematerialised landscape, to which the internet contributes greatly. The industrial rubber matts lining the gallery floor activate the paintings and give cohesion to the whole exhibition space, and the overpowering synthetic odour they emit makes this one show that needs to be experienced to be appreciated. What works in \u201cMenace II Soci\u00e9t\u00e9\u201d is an attention to detail and concepts that is borne out of a rich history of painting and extended through to a contemporary approach to image-making. Vena is an artist who proves, once again, that there is still something left to paint.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Text by Tomasz Kobialka<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cMenace II Soci\u00e9t\u00e9\u201d is on show at Soci\u00e9t\u00e9 until 7 June 2014.<\/strong><\/p>\n

www.societeberlin.com<\/a><\/strong><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Installation view, Ned Vena, “Menace II Soci\u00e9t\u00e9\u201d Berlin’s Gallery Weekend poses a challenge for curators. The city is not well-known for its art market, so, when buyers come to town, it’s best to make the most of the opportunity. This task is not an easy one, and it can sometimes feel like galleries are marketing…<\/p>","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":13738,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_kad_post_transparent":"","_kad_post_title":"","_kad_post_layout":"","_kad_post_sidebar_id":"","_kad_post_content_style":"","_kad_post_vertical_padding":"","_kad_post_feature":"","_kad_post_feature_position":"","_kad_post_header":false,"_kad_post_footer":false,"_kad_post_classname":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[11856,139],"tags":[51,1452,1035,1453],"class_list":["post-13734","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-sleek-art","category-art","tag-gallery-weekend","tag-ned-vena","tag-post-internet-art","tag-societe"],"acf":{"main_category":null,"legacy":"1","exclude_from_ads":null,"hero_title":null,"subtitle":null,"hero":null,"teasers":null,"facebook_image":null,"related_articles":null,"next_article":null,"sleek_card_focus":null,"content":null},"yoast_head":"\nTaking aim at post-internet art's detractors: Ned Vena at Soci\u00e9t\u00e9 Taking aim at post-internet art's detractors: Ned Vena at Soci\u00e9t\u00e9<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.sleek-mag.com\/de\/article\/taking-aim-at-post-internet-arts-detractors-ned-vena-at-societe\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"de_DE\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Taking aim at post-internet art's detractors: Ned Vena at Soci\u00e9t\u00e9 Taking aim at post-internet art's detractors: Ned Vena at Soci\u00e9t\u00e9\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Installation view, Ned Vena, “Menace II Soci\u00e9t\u00e9\u201d Berlin’s Gallery Weekend poses a challenge for curators. 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