"Face-to-Face"
22.04.23 - 04.06.23
Kaffeehaus9, Kladower Damm 289, 14089 Berlin
When Iris invited me to exhibit at Kaffeehaus9, I considered what I would show. Most of my work over the past few years have been small scale graphic works that would be lost in the cafe setting. I thought about what a cafe is; a place to meet, to have a treat, to people watch, to celebrate, to work, as well as drink coffee.
So began my journey of painting a series of portraits, many of encounters between people, tender moments as an antidote to the current overload of digitalisation and negative news. People come and go in our lives, some faces fade and others come into sharp focus. The portraits include friends, family, acquaintances, chance observations and occasionally film.
According to the French philosopher Emmanuel Levinas, “people are responsible to one another in their face-to-face encounters”.
In sociology and linguistics face-to-face is defined as “social interactions carried out without mediating technology”.
This exhibition, “Face-to-Face” is born of a fascination with the human condition, and the result is a celebration of everyday encounters.
So began my journey of painting a series of portraits, many of encounters between people, tender moments as an antidote to the current overload of digitalisation and negative news. People come and go in our lives, some faces fade and others come into sharp focus. The portraits include friends, family, acquaintances, chance observations and occasionally film.
According to the French philosopher Emmanuel Levinas, “people are responsible to one another in their face-to-face encounters”.
In sociology and linguistics face-to-face is defined as “social interactions carried out without mediating technology”.
This exhibition, “Face-to-Face” is born of a fascination with the human condition, and the result is a celebration of everyday encounters.
©Joanne Johnston 2023