Chrissy Angliker & George Mayer - TO SEE YOU

Description

The exhibition “TO SEE YOU” not only addresses seeing as a purely visual act but also raises the question of how perception, encounter, and attention are interconnected. The title can be read ambiguously: on one hand as an invitation to consciously perceive someone, on the other as a hint to be seen oneself. This interplay between active and passive seeing forms the conceptual starting point of the exhibition and opens a space where viewpoints, perspectives, and interpersonal relationships are negotiated. In this context, the works of Chrissy Angliker and George Mayer enter into a tense dialogue. While Angliker often works with fragmented figures, vibrant colors, and an intuitive visual language emphasizing the subjective and emotional, Mayer approaches the theme through a reduced, often conceptual formal language. His works appear more controlled and distanced, bringing questions of objectivity and the construction of perception to the forefront. The juxtaposition of these two positions highlights different approaches to seeing: Angliker directs the gaze to the individual, the physical, and the immediate experience, while Mayer examines more structural and analytical aspects of perception. It is precisely in this difference that a productive tension arises, encouraging visitors to reflect on their own role as observers and to understand “seeing” as a multifaceted, dynamic process.

Artist Statement Chrissy Angliker
Today, the term “humanization” is most often used in connection with the development of artificial intelligence – to make it more human so that we perceive it as equal and ultimately treat it as such. This consideration seems at best naive, especially when people themselves have difficulty conveying this feeling to each other. It is we who need humanization through self-reflection and introspection. I began attending figure drawing meetings because I had a deep need for direct, personal contact with a stranger. In these politically and spiritually charged times, I had to touch the pain point of emotions around humanity in general. By painting these “color bodies,” I explore how much – or how little – of the defining characteristics of the individual must be preserved so that the color evokes a shared sense of embodiment in the viewer. Color, the gentle messenger, softens, simplifies, breaks down, colors, and dissolves the motif into feeling, memory, and expression. It carries the weight of the theme and helps us access what lies beneath the surface. From works on paper to canvases, I use various color languages and degrees of figuration to create a wide space where the viewer can find themselves through self-awareness and resonance. A significant change in my practice followed when I was called to experience this new kind of body vision by rediscovering my medium of color. After fourteen years working with acrylics, I switched to oil paints. Both the medium and the human body are vessels that hold and reflect our experience and inseparably connect the human body with the color body. This investigation of the body has shown me that sincere pleading and the courage to question our human nature anew – through the testimony of the ship that carries our experience – can transform us. Art is humanization in action. Creating art is an inherently human act, born from the necessity of self-expression and created by people for people. Creative expression and its reception form a symbiotic and fundamental human exchange – of seeing and being seen, feeling and emotions. This exchange acknowledges our shared experience in this body, in this moment. I believe this cycle of human connection is crucial for us to truly identify, understand, and see each other.

Chrissy Angliker
Chrissy Angliker is a Swiss-American artist based in Brooklyn. Her art focuses on visually translating how she perceives life itself; as a search for a balance between control and chaos. At the center of Chrissy’s practice is her unique exploration of her ever-evolving partnership with color. The theme of her work arose from her feeling that life itself is a balance between control and chaos. As humans, we have intentions but must anticipate and welcome the intervention of external forces beyond our control. From a young age, Chrissy Angliker was fortunate to study with the Russian artist Yuri Borodatchev, who became her artistic mentor for several years. In 1999, at the age of 16, Chrissy Angliker moved to the USA to study fine arts at Walnut Hill School in Natick, MA. To expand her expressive possibilities, she subsequently studied industrial design at Pratt Institute in New York. After spending her postgraduate years in design, Angliker’s creative expression shifted back to painting in 2008. Over the past decade and a half, Chrissy Angliker has successfully exhibited her art in Europe and the USA. She has been featured in several publications, including Forbes online in 2017 and Interview Magazine online in 2022. She has been commissioned to collaborate with several companies, including Dior, Blick Art Materials, Utrecht Paints, and Wired Magazine.

George Mayer
George Mayer was born in 1985 in Nizhny Tagil, Russia. In 2004, he graduated with honors from the Ural College of Arts and Crafts, where he studied environmental design. Until 2007, he worked as an interior architect. He participated in Russian national architecture and design competitions and was awarded prizes. His works were published in professional books and magazines for architecture and design by publishers such as Tatlin and Univer Press. In 2011, George Mayer won the Russian photography competition “Young Photographers of Russia.” The competition projects were exhibited in Kazan, Moscow, and at the international art festival in Marsciano (Italy). In 2011, George Mayer was the winner of the photography competition “The Spider Awards” (USA), where he was named Photographer of the Year for outstanding achievements in black-and-white photography. With his project “Shadows,” he won the title “Photographer of the Year” at the International Photography Awards. The award ceremony took place at Carnegie Hall (New York, USA). George Mayer was nominated for the first prize of the IPA and the Lucie Awards statuette. In 2017, George won one of the most prestigious international photography competitions, the “Sony World Photography Awards,” where the project “Light. Shadows. Perfect woman.” won first prize among professionals in the category “Portraiture.” After the win, the project “Light. Shadows. Perfect woman.” was published in numerous European specialist photography magazines. The company SONY provided funding for the project “Libido & Mortido,” and portraits from this project were exhibited at Somerset House in London. By 2023, George Mayer had participated in over 70 exhibitions worldwide. Some of his works were acquired by collectors in Italy, France, Australia, Japan, Russia, Ukraine, Poland, Switzerland, and other countries. Interviews with Mayer were published in renowned magazines in Italy, Germany, China, the USA, and France, while his photographs appeared in publications such as Forbes, The Times, The Guardian, and others. His photographs are featured on the covers of dozens of music CDs by popular international singers such as Chris Brown, “Bullet for My Valentine,” and “Operator.” Additionally, photos by George Mayer appear on books by recognized Russian and international writers and playwrights, including Nobel laureate Mario Vargas Llosa and the famous French writer Bernard Werber. Some photos were also purchased by Netflix for the film “Bright” (2017) with Will Smith, and some photographs were acquired by MGMTelevision for the cult series “Fargo.”

Highlights

• Exhibition by Chrissy Angliker and George Mayer
• Addresses the interplay of perception and encounter
• Dialogue between emotional and conceptual art

General Information

The exhibition “TO SEE YOU” at Galerie 94 in Baden explores seeing as a complex act of perception. The works of Angliker and Mayer offer different perspectives and encourage visitors to reflect on their own role in the process of seeing.

Location

Bruggerstrasse 37, 5400 Baden, Switzerland

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