Just back from London where i managed to catch up with up to 7 exhibitions in a day and try out a bottle of baffling dandelion and burdock syrup. The most magnificent moments of my stay in town were spent in the dark rooms of the Serpentine watching Parreno’s videos. The feast closes next week: run, readers, run to Kensington Gardens if you haven’t seen the show yet.

Another exhibition i enjoyed a lot is Matthias Schaller‘s series of Disportraits at Ben Brown Fine Arts.

Matthias Schaller, DIS 5, 2008-2010

Matthias Schaller, DIS 3, 2008-2010

As the artist stated: “As with all my series, the leading argument is the variation on portrait. I had the sensation that I could try to either make portraits of mankind, or of individuals. I liked the idea of having a connection between the individual and space, (in this case the prominent figure of Galileo), and with suits in a more abstract sense, as you can only imagine a human figure in the astronaut suit, but you cannot see it. It is anonymous.

I think the astronaut suit is a metaphor for human beings. Through them I am able in a visual and simple way to show that I believe we are all astronauts. We are all alone, we are isolated from each other. And we are all trying by verbal and non-verbal communication to get in contact with each other. To not feel alone. Each individual is a space with its own rules, materials, history and relations to the space outside of itself.”

Matthias Schaller, DIS 1, 2008-2010

I spent a few minutes watching the multi-paneled works, trying to catch a glimpse of the men hidden behind it until i read the press release and realized that the suits were empty.

Matthias Schaller, DIS 10, 2008-2010

Matthias Schaller – Disportraits runs at Ben Brown Fine Arts in London until March 4, 2011.