"Quiet and understated, the show presents the work of 17 artists, who are either represented by the gallery or part of its wider network. In the exhibition text, the smallness in question is discussed not on the level of "scale or spectacle," but rather speaks to the idea of "concentration over expansion." The intention of the exhibition, positioned as a "living index," very much depends on where we place our attention."
"There is a touch of playfulness in the placement of a golden mushroom: installed two thirds of the way up one wall, the work is high enough that I nearly overlook it altogether. 'Samsara (deity)' (2022) by Benja Sachau is a tinder sponge, which first intersected with the artist's life when it fell from a tree onto the bonnet of a friend's car. Here, covered in 24 carat gold, Sachau has reinstated the fungi at the height from which it first fell."
"Tinder sponge starts life as a parasite of a tree, changing to a decomposer once the tree is dead. Sachau centers the fungi within the wider context of samsara, which refers to the cycle of rebirth and death. This repositioning calls into question both the environment and the artist's role. Tinder sponge has been used for centuries-as medicine, as fire starter, as a tool sharpener. How can this organism now perform as a static object within the gallery?"
The exhibition marks 15 years of Soy Capitán and assembles work by 17 artists represented by the gallery or its wider network. The presentation favors quiet, understated, small-scale works arranged with linear compactness to focus the gallery space. Playful placement and precise hanging invite close looking. Benja Sachau’s 'Samsara (deity)' is a tinder sponge gilded in 24-carat gold and reinstated at the height from which it fell, foregrounding the organism’s lifecycle and cultural uses. The work raises questions about environment, artistic intervention, cycles of renewal or disruption, and a balance between sacred and profane.
Read at Berlin Art Link
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