Leo Kuelbs Collection
Adrian Pocobelli: "Screen Memories"
December 10th, 2020 - January 15th, 2021
“The history of art is etched into our collective psyche. Although we have different exposure to art based on our interests and education, there is nonetheless a general consciousness of what art is and what it looks like, and generally these notions are transferred through famous, so-called canonical, images. In this respect, art history acts as a visual anchor of sorts — a reference point — in a visually overstimulated world.
Sigmund Freud coined the term screen memory to describe a distorted visual memory originating in childhood. Based on its ubiquity, the history of art can be seen as a kind of visual childhood memory of the mass psyche. By masking parts of these canonical works with screenprinted areas of colour based on digital techniques, I’m attempting to celebrate the fresh look of technology, using the smartphone as compositional tool, while also commenting on a covered up, painted over spiritual world, which, for good or ill, remains largely hidden in our secular society. In simple terms, technology is masking the divine, and the results are ambiguous.
From a technical perspective, my core interest is what I call “travelling through the mediums.” How does an image transform from its original incarnation as an artwork in a gallery, to the photo of the artwork, to its compressed version as a JPG and its representation on Google Images search results to being scanned, printed and screenprinted overtop? Through this visual alchemy, I hope to have created a contemporary and relevant art object.”
Adrian Pocobelli
Berlin 2020