Michail Pirgelis' First Solo Show in Berlin

German-born artist Michail Pirgelis, who grew up in Greece, is currently exhibiting his first solo exhibition in Berlin at Sprüth Magers Berlin. The exhibition, called ‘Ακρόπολης – Acropolis,’ includes sculptures and objects based on (and made from) original airplane parts.

Pirgelis collects airplane parts, salvaging them from scrap yards around the world. His Berlin exhibition displays seven new objects – plus two sculptures from his 2009 “Airsaddles” series. Some of his new works include brightly polished outer fuselage sections, which casually hang from the gallery wall and a series of baggage storage compartments, which have been transformed into loudspeaker towers.

Through cutting, collaging, highlighting, covering and polishing, the artist transforms his rescued pieces, which have escaped their ill-fated destiny of ending up as scrap metal, into elaborate sculptures. Upon completion, each piece’s rejuvenation represents the once-evident prominence of aviation (which has seemed to disappear due to today’s mass air transportation).

Likewise, Pirgelis’ creations surpass issues plaguing the airline industry and airplanes today – those of safety, terrorism, and ecological effects – and touch on themes of technology and how humanity works with and transforms materials, turning them into masterful marvels, like airplanes.

This powerfully intriguing exhibition is on display through April 1, 2010.

Read more about the artist, his exhibition and artwork.

See what else is going on in Berlin's Art Scene

David Musgrave's New York Solo Premiere

David Musgrave at Luhring Augustine
531 West 24th Street
New York, NY 10011

March 21 - April 18, 2009
Opening Friday, March 20th, 6-8 pm

This week power house gallery Luhring Augustine hosts David Musgrave's first solo exhibition in New York. The show features drawings and sculptures created over the past two years, which explore his ongoing preoccupation with the abstraction inherent in representation and the transformative capacity of materials.

Musgrave's work examines the relation between thoughts and things, ideas and objects. He produces images and forms that unsettle distinctions between inner and outer realms. The apparent accessibility of the simple human or animal schema that underpins much of his imagery forms a counterpoint to Musgrave's many-layered approach. His drawings often resemble documents of artifacts that hint at the primitive or the paranormal. Close viewing reveals a highly detailed evocation of fictive but perfectly plausible surfaces created with graphite.