One After the Other (Sequential Micks)

Gereon Krebber

September 14 - October 19, 2024

Gereon Krebber is an artist who likes to push limits. Whether he’s creating works using such unconventional materials as toothpaste, clingfilm, gelatin, packing tape, caramel, or mayonnaise, or more traditional media, Krebber aims to create works that both intrigue and repulse. He’s the anti-Pygmalion: he doesn’t want you to fall in love with his sculptures, he wants you to find them repugnant and interesting. Beauty isn’t Krebber’s primary concern. It is always far more interesting to be the villain than the hero.

Micks, a portmanteau of “micro bricks”, parade across the gallery walls in measured succession, each one unique in its imperfections. Created daily, the blocks mark the passing of time. While following the same rectangular rules as the building material, each strays from form with a small nick, a pinch, a thumb push, or a bump on top; it is minimalism that betrays you. You can see the glee with which Krebber makes these small blocks, the joy of pushing one’s fingers into semi-set clay before firing and glazing them in a riot of layered color. Krebber’s dark secret is that he’s a gifted colorist, something that’s easy to see in his ceramic works.  In groups, they act as a gathering of ideas. Singularly, they act as jeweled punctuation for any room they inhabit.

The tiny ceramics surround a linear steel sculpture, whose skeletal form is inhabited by organic, amorphous blobs. It exists in between death and growth: the skeletal remains of something once vibrant or the underlying armature of something waiting to be created. Krebber is an adept sculptor in that he knows how to create works that occupy a space in a balanced way. Even if his pieces are disparate in material and meaning, they can occupy the same room without any visual cacophony. 

“One After the Other” refers to both the succession of micks across the gallery walls and the downstairs installation which articulates the path of the gallery. Celebrating its 17th year and 114th show, Krebber has chronicled each exhibition with a timeline that cites every artist the gallery has worked within that time. Shows happen, days pass, and everything continues in its cycle. While this exhibition features works that are “micro” and linear, they fill the gallery space with light, color, history, a sly sense of humor, and even beauty.