Those who revel in the visually chaotic aftermath of months, sometimes years, of successive flyposting – and the subsequent successive peeling away of said flyposting – are in for a treat at New York-based German artist Nikolas Gambaroff’s latest exhibition. His first solo show in Los Angeles (at the city’s Overduin and Kite gallery), Tools for Living is a visually powerful examination of painting, consumerism, mass-production and modern culture; the artist toying with the language of mass-media to dizzying and dazzling effect.
Half-inching a painted wall with the word UNITED, from Japanese artist Ei Arakawa’s previous show at the gallery, Gambaroff mirrors it with his own free-standing wall, punctuated with the word UNEDIT. Adorning both with a series of similar works, that echo Warhol’s Factory process, the space affords its viewers changing perspectives of Gambaroff’s layered works. Adding layers of confusion to familiar newsprints, posters and advertisements – Tools for Living is a beautifully crafted look at the overwhelming repetition of marketing and messaging.
