Tondi of the Universe

A Selection of Works from Gallery Carbon Fourteen
Tondo works on paper

30 September – 6 October 2018
London, United Kingdom

By invitation only: 30 September 2018
By appointment only: 1 October – 5 October 2018

Saman Tehrani, in collaboration with Carbon Fourteen Gallery, is pleased to present a show
of tondo works on paper on view at Saman’s apartment in London.
Organized and mounted by Saman, the ephemeral show features tondo works on paper by
four young promising artists: Jeremy John Kaplan (1982, lives in Brooklyn), Geraldine
Belmont (1977, lives in Zurich), Stephen Russell (1981, lives in Berlin), and Gilcozar (1973,
lives in Théoule-sur-Mer).
The temporary show is dedicated to the medium of paper with all its specific features: its
fragility and its vast versatility. The show reflects the variety and diversity of contemporary
approaches and techniques to paper. The four young artists look to paper as a major
influence in their paintings, sculptures and drawings. This has led them to develop four very
different techniques.
In the spirit of an apartment pop-up gallery, the space feels like a small private art
collection. The environment offers the possibility to directly approach the works and to
perceive them in a mutual dialogue. It is an intimate and private setting which plays with
Saman’s unique taste and character.
For Saman the four artists symbolize four different planets. He mounted the paper works
with magnets. Each artist represents one planet, suspended in the universe and connected
to others through magnets. Universality in The Tondi of Universe is achieved by wiring the
artistic accomplishments of Kaplan, Belmont, Russell and Gilcozar through a magnetic field.
In this realm each work compliments the other in one space and at the same time.

Artists
Kaplan transports us to the blue moon, a rare event which occurs in certain atmospheric
conditions. Kaplan, whose work revolves around sports, has made new tondo works on
paper for this show using a singular technique he calls “bounce painting”. For these works
he covers a sport ball with pigment. He then bounces the ball on the paper to make prints.
For these new works Kaplan has used International Klein Blue. Kaplan is known for creating
cyanotypes and blue spray paint works. During the process of making these works, like
athletes who practice ball games, Kaplan reproduces the act of throwing a ball on paper
over and over again.
Belmont takes us on a journey to another planet with mix media paper technique: a clever
association of collage, watercolour paint and ink work. Her new tondo works resemble a
fictional space world of robots, drones, spaceships and other space residents. With the new
approach, made specifically for Saman’s apartment, Belmont leads her audience to the age
of “biorobotics”, an age where robots become like humans; Astro Boy makes love and can
reproduces with another robot. She explores a scenario much discussed by the scientific
field today, an age where computers and robots outsmart homo sapiens.
Russell, who works with crayons on paper, represents the most colourful and exotic planet.
He transports us to a rocky planet made of different layers of colours. He is an artist who
looks to paper as a major influence in his paintings. He creates his works on paper with the
image of a large painting in his mind, thus the small image on paper is the first creative
process of a large scale painting that will or will not be created. Russell works with crayon
the same way a painter uses paint: he builds visual rhythm through a succession of layers
and textures. All these layers evoke a world of rocky canyons and valleys.
Finally, Gilcozar, who is known for his stripe art with duct tape, takes us on an expedition to
a universe made of stars, planets, rings and other celestial objects. He has developed a
unique embroidery technique of stripes of duct tape which he has sown onto paper through
small chirurgical cuts. With this technique, Gilcozar creates two images: one in the front of
the paper and one in the back. This original embroidery technique with strings and stripes
of duct tape into paper clearly challenges the traditional connotations of sewing and
stitching in fine arts. For this show, Gilcozar has created a new body of monochrome works
on paper with stripes of gold duct tape.
The show is an exploration of the artists’ expressions with paper and the inventiveness of
young artists when it comes to challenge what a work on paper should be. The four young
artists establish the originality of their techniques and how far they push the boundaries of
work on paper.
The tondi shown at Saman’s unifies the different styles of the four artists. Abstraction and
figuration are intermingled; shapes are shifted, geometry bends, patterns emerge, while
figuration refers directly to our planet. The diversified universe of styles is united by the
tondi: Gilcozar’s geometrical art, Kaplan’s abstract shapes, Belmont’s figurative paint,
Russell’s dissected forms, all come together, all in one and at once.
This apartment show is the first of a series of nomadic art events organized by Saman which
will take place in various cities. The next event will be announced soon.

Carbon Fourteen Gallery :
In 2017, Gilcozar opened Carbon Fourteen Gallery with a solo show by Jeremy John
Kaplan whose cyanotypes were the subject of the gallery’s inaugural exhibition. In 2018,
artists Geraldine Belmont and Stephen Russell joined the gallery.
Carbon Fourteen is located in Théoule-sur-Mer, Côte d’Azur. The gallery is surrounded by
nature, between the Esterel Massif and the sea. This unique location stimulates the
interaction between art and nature. The gallery is a founding member of a community of art
galleries, artist studios and art shops located in Théoule-sur-Mer.

Live feed show visit :
Saman offers live guided visit of the show via Skype and WhatsApp. We kindly request
those interested in digital visits to make an appointment request by electronic mail to [email protected]