Michael Sailstorfer: Tear Show

This is the first solo exhibition in London by German artist Michael Sailstorfer (b. 1979 in Velden, Germany) lives and works in Berlin, Germany.

Incorporating video, sculpture, sound and interventions, a repeated motif of the teardrop manifested in newer as well as never before seen works impress upon the viewer, with questions about fluidity and mass. The teardrop rendered as solid, reconfigures the viewer’s own relationship with the archetypal symbol.

Starting from the entrance, the sign above the door greets viewers with a clue of what to expect within. The umlauts over the “O” in “KÖNIG” are turned into red teardrops, mimicking sinister yet playful devil’s horns, hinting not only at the visual motif but also the disregard for natural order, a semblance of physical nature being turned on its head. The main exhibition room will feature around 30 tear paintings, a flattening of the dimensions to pure symbolic shape. The paintings are made with lipstick on silicone, an ode to the artist’s playful approach to materiality.