Claudia Comte Jungle and Corals, 2021

Sat, 16 Jan 2021 11:00

On view
16 Jan-28 Feb 2021

Claudia Comte Jungle and Corals, 2021

KÖNIG GALERIE | Chapel

"Jungle and Corals" presents new sculptural works produced while Comte was on residency last year in Jamaica at the Alligator Head Foundation as a fellow of the TBA21–Academy. There she collaborated with local woodworkers in an outdoor studio set up on the premises of the Alligator Head marine Lab and worked alongside marine biologists, conservation- and coral reef specialists, as well as nature wardens. The Alligator Head Foundation manages a six square kilometre large marine protected area in East Portland and is dedicated to the recovery of fish stocks, improving coral growth and the overall biodiversity in the regions protected waters. Influenced by the myriad of coral species and their strange alien forms, Comte set out to produce a body of coral shaped sculptures made from ecologically sourced tropical woods such as, almond, dogwood, and guinep wood. In May 2021, she will present the entire body of coral sculptures produced in Jamaica in a major solo exhibition that envisions an immersive underwater landscape at the Thyssen-Bornemisza Museum, Madrid, curated by Chus Martinez. Alongside the coral sculptures in the exhibition are a series of paintings that were produced in Comte’s new studio in Basel last year. The artist references the visual iconography of the Belgian comic artist André Franquin, known for such comics as Spirou et Fantasio, Gaston Lagaffe and Marsupilami. In Comte’s version she draws attention to Franquin’s linear backgrounds of the natural world, removing all depictions of industrialised life and human intervention.

photo by Roman März © the artist and KÖNIG GALERIE Berlin, London
photo by Roman März © the artist and KÖNIG GALERIE Berlin, London