June 29 - July 31, 2023
Sometimes at the moment of sleep strange figures are born and disappear.
When I shut my eyes phosphorescent blooms appear and fade
and come to life again like fireworks made of flesh.
I pass through strange lands with creatures for company.
No doubt you are there, my beautiful discreet spy.
And the palpable soul of the vast reaches.
And perfumes of the sky and the stars the song of a rooster
from 2000 years ago and piercing screams in a flaming park and kisses.
Sinister handshakes in a sickly light and axles grinding on paralyzing roads.
No doubt there is you who I do not know, who on the contrary I do know.
— Robert Desnos (from “Sleep Spaces,” translated by Carmen Lobo)
Tamo Jugeli, Untitled, 2022, oil and airbrush on canvas, 63 x 90 1/2 inches, 160 x 229.9 cm
Polina Berlin Gallery is pleased to present Soft Focus, a two-part exhibition bringing together six artists who explore liminal spaces, opening on June 29 in Paris and July 19 in New York. Reminiscent of the way consciousness flickers in the space between waking and dreaming, the show pairs artists who explore the edges of portraiture and landscape; the line between process and intuition; and the blurred boundary between a literal interior and interior life.
Paris was the birthplace of Surrealism, which elevated dream life to a generative plane, a space where the creative mind went both to die and to be reborn. The artists included in Soft Focus masterfully navigate this realm, drawing their viewers inward and outside of themselves.
For more information, please contact info@polinaberlingallery.com