« We know almost nothing about the living body. We must therefore love it where it expresses itself: in its trembling fragility. » - Paul B. Preciado  

EXGIRLFRIEND gallery is pleased to present 'Slender Axes' featuring works by by Fiona Valentine Thomann with works by Melika Shafahi, Constance Tenvik around the notion of biopolitics. Please join us for the opening reception September 5th, 2020 at 7pm for drinks and conversation with the artists.

'Slender Axes'
Fiona Valentine Thomann, Constance Tenvik, & Melika Shafahi
Saturday, September 5th, 2020
7pm - 10pm
Exgirlfriend
Lankwitzerstrasse 14, 12107
Alt-Mariendorf, Berlin

Berlin Art Week & Gallery Weekend hours: Sunday, September 13th 5-10pm

By appointment only

Exgirlfriend presents Slender Axes, an exhibition by Fiona Valentine Thomann with select works by Constance Tenvik and Melika Shafahi.

The installation on which this exhibition is centered (“lapse social for physical distancing”, 2020) is a commentary on our collective predicament in the times of a global pandemic which draws lines to much larger political issues, such as government manipulation, invisible borders, the inefficacy of control attempts by world powers, and the idea of “social” vs “physical“ distancing. Referencing Foucault’s idea of “biopolitics”, the artist creates a tensioned space which has been systematically covered with one cent euro coins, each placed 1,5 m apart. A currency on the verge of obsolescence, it seems that its most notable purpose now would be to harnesses the threat of contagion, passed from hand to hand within communities and therefore a fertile ground for the current fear, COVID. Valentine’s other works in the exhibition elaborate on such concepts as well as demand freedom from those who would oppress in a time of uncertainty. In “Tulip” by Melika Shafahi, the artist asks us to rethink the visual culture of contemporary Iran through its materiality, based on economic and social realities. “If the tulip symbolises martyrdom and suffering in Iran and  "is born from the blood of the martyrs", according to the consecrated saying, it is another flower, the gladiolus, which played the role of ersatz of the Tulip in the years of war (Iran-Iraq) and conflict, placed on the coffins of the martyrs and in official ceremonies. The abundance of gladioli in the Iranian market created a rupture between visual and material culture: the gladioli placed on the martyr's coffin clearly evokes tulips representing the martyr.” Constance Tenvik contributes a small gouache work on paper whose title speaks for itself, “Remembering Marching in the Streets (Fiona, Paris, March 8th)”, a reference to International Women’s Day, March 8th, which sparked worldwide protests fighting discrimination and oppression against women. 

-Elena Feijoo, Founder and Director, Exgirlfriend Berlin.

**COVID GUIDELINES**
RSVP required via this event. Patrons must wear a mask at all times while inside the exhibition space, bathrooms, or building. Masks can be removed in our courtyard area.
Please be sure to wash your hands thoroughly often. Hand sanitizer will be provided and safety measures taken.