Edward Bekkermann and Nicola Turner together at Shtager&Shch, London

ART

When two dream worlds meet

Edward Bekkermann and Nicola Turner together at Shtager&Shch, London

Edward Bekkermann exhibits at Shtager&Shch, London, ©Shtager&Shch

Art, 2 December 2023: New York artist Edward Bekkermann is currently exhibiting at Shtager&Shch in London together with Nicola Turner: The Song of Psyche: Corners of a Soul's Otherworlds.

An extremely interesting combination of Bekkermann's colourful, energetic work with Turner's voluminous, darker sculptures. With a background in stage and costume design, the English artist Turner combines found objects with materials made from organic "dead" matter such as horsehair. The artist stages them on furniture, walls or the sculptures block doorways. Seemingly contradictory dream worlds meet in this exhibition.

Bekkermann's works were on display at the Osthaus Museum Hagen last year in the exhibition Labyrinths of Love. Bekkermann himself comes from an art-loving family. His father was a sculptor and his brother Anatol Bekkermann is the well-known owner of the ABA Gallery in New York and also the founder of the Maya and Anatoly Bekkerman Collection, which was exhibited at the Pushkin Museum and the State Russian Museum in St. Petersburg in 2014. Edward Bekkermann searches for spirituality in his art. An early series was the "Guardians", in which he interpreted mystical beings. The director of the Osthaus Museum Hagen, Taifun Belgin, attributed an exquisite quality to Bekkermann's work, describing his peinture as "very sophisticated and refined in its execution". For other critics such as Prof. Irene Daum, Bekkerman's art stands for creative work beyond established trends and multi-layered, universal motifs.

Repost of our interview with the artist:

Edward Bekkermann and Nicola Turner exhibition at Shtager&Shch, London, ©Shtager&Shch

"I thought about the title for a very long time and asked myself, what is love."

Can you tell me how you found the title of your exhibition "Labyrinth of Love"?

I thought about the title for a very long time and asked myself, what is love. We don't know and we can't really explain this inner feeling. But we know that we are all searching for it and we want love to be an important part of our lives. That's what these pictures are actually saying. There are so many people, singles who are searching and couples who have already found each other, who are going through this labyrinth because they want to be together forever.

Especially during the pandemic, we were isolated from each other. We missed seeing each other, kissing each other, hugging each other, being with each other. I think now is the time for us to appreciate that now.

Besides Labyrinths of Love, you also brought 3 paintings from older series from New York? I have already read about your "Guardians" and "Angels" paintings.

These "Guardians" paintings are from the 90s. I am looking for this kind of spirituality in my art. I believe in other beings that we don't see but that help us because we all pray for something. I ask myself, what do they look like? This is my interpretation of how I saw them at that particular moment in my life.

I didn't have the opportunity to bring the "Angels" with me. We wanted to focus on "Labyrinths of Love". When I painted the "Guardians" for the first time, I had to fight for my career, it was a time of helping and hoping. After that it took off - my career developed and the "Angels" came; very light and very beautiful. They are in my book and I hope to show them in another exhibition.

"The paintings are my children, I can't live

without creating."

You live and work in New York. What is it like for an artist in this mega-city.

I don't think it's been easy for any artist over the centuries. Now everyone wants to be an artist. I happen to be one of those people who had an enormous desire to say something, to develop something and share it with the world. The paintings are my children, I can't live without creating. New York is not an easy city, but it is my hometown, I grew up there.

I read that you also work as a sculptor?

Yes, I am also a sculptor. My father put that in my genes. Sculpting is like breathing for me. But developing paintings and defining your own language in painting is much more difficult. There will definitely come a time to exhibit my sculptures because I cast them in bronze; that's how I like them.

"People deserve to see "Labyrinth of Love". I hope it will bring that touch of wonder, warmth and hope to the visitors - we need that now."

It's been 6 years since you exhibited your work here at the Osthaus Hagen Museum. That's a long time to wait for an artist.

Yes, it was a wonderful experience. At that time I didn't think I would have a solo exhibition here, but life goes mysterious ways, but now it has, and I am very happy to be in this museum.

Will you now show your beautiful exhibition elsewhere in Europe?

We are negotiating that right now. This is definitely an exhibition I would like to show in another country, because people deserve to see "Labyrinth of Love". I hope it will bring that touch of wonder, warmth and hope to the visitors - we need that now.

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The interview was conducted by Claudia Greta Mauer, Autumn 2022

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