In Surface Values, Finnish artist Eemil Karila reframes the perpetual question of what lends the institutional receptacle its pristine, unquestionable authority. Dispensing with the cold narrative’s all too typical materials: four white walls, stark fluorescent overhead lights – Karila explores the endless recalibration of the exhibition space and the oft-unacknowledged sociopolitical implications in each reapplication of matte white paint. Previously exhibited at Rovaniemi Art Museum, Finland and Galerija Vartai (Vilnius), Lithuania, Surface Values marks Eemil Karila’s first solo exhibition in Berlin.
Alternating black light brings the performance of a marginalized actor into focus; the UV inks mixed into a solution of cleaning chemicals trace the motions of the part-time cleaner, a former nurse from the Ukraine with quiet poise. Herself a supportive figure in the ephemeral architecture of PROGRAM’s network of collaborators, Ludmila agreed to take part in Surface Values on the conditions that her portrait not be permanently archived on our website, and that her last name not be used.
PROGRAM: initiative for art+architectural collaborations
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