Friends of Kulturpalast,

At the end of February, we will say goodbye to the therapeutic blanket of snow that had settled over our rubbish-strewn Soldiner Kiez for a moment like a contemplative, cushioning down coat. Curtain up for a thematically similar double exhibition of a Finnish-Russian artist duo, because who would know better:

*Silence

Anton Laiko & Roberto Aarnio

Exhibition opening on Friday, February 28, 2025 at 8 p.m.

Exhibition duration: February 28 to March 8, 2025
Open: Sat & Sun from 3 p.m. to 7 p.m. and on request

Kulturpalast Wedding International
Freienwalder Strasse 20
13359 Berlin – Wedding
www.kulturpalastwedding.com

The Russian painter, sculptor and object- artist Anton Laiko, most recently represented in the nearby Toolbox Gallery with a collection of bottles labeled “Tears of Anton Laiko”, approaches with subversive poetry the question of how art comes into the world in today’s everyday life, which is characterized by a noisy, constant discourse:

“I am tired of social, political and anarchic art. Art must be concerned with form and content – be decorative. Like the art of the past and the future. We must free our own consciousness from social, political thinking and thinking about art and reach another level of consciousness by looking at pure reality. Silence is necessary for a person in the information noise of newspapers, mass media and everyday stress, so we, Anton Laiko and Roberto Aarnio, produce silence.”

These nuanced dimensions of silence are also the focus of Roberto Aarnio’s latest artistic exploration. The Finnish painter uses his own, extremely colorful dot and wobbly line technique to outline the mostly gray everyday life of Finnish people living alone. People look into refrigerators, sit alone at kitchen tables or in wheelchairs. In the process, motifs and form constantly dissolve – something vibrates – but nothing happens. In this contemplative form of everyday observation, despite the unconditional presence of the images, the unpainted, the absent or the silence comes to the fore:

„Silence is a choice, a deliberate act of restraint that can speak louder than words. It shields us from conflict, it creates distance, it can be the space where thoughts gather, where emotions settle, where clarity emerges.“

More at:

https://cargocollective.com/antonlaiko

https://www.instagram.com/robertoaarnio.art/

In quiet anticipation:

Kulturpalast Wedding Internationa