Sat, April 12th 7PM
Carmichael Gallery of Contemporary Art
1257 N La Brea Avenue / 323.969.0600
Herakut
http://www.carmichaelgallery.com/future.html

I got a chance to meet up with German art duo Herakut Wednesday afternoon to check out some amazing installation-in-progress before their American debut show opening this Saturday night at the Carmichael Gallery in Hollywood.
Both talented artists in their own right, Jasmine Siddiqui (Hera) and Falk Lehmann (Akut) referred to they way they work as a conversation in pictures, as one starts a piece that the other will finish. I was excited to catch this work in progress, because as the couple paints one layer over another, the piece may change completely five or six times as one work covers up the last. Taking inspiration from the immediate world in front of them influences color palettes that reflect the warm tints of a sunset in Greece, the cold feeling of a German morning, and characters could include anyone from the family dog to the odd Hollywood denizens wandering in off of La Brea Boulevard.

Herakut was born in the world of street art and still does installations at graffiti festivals as well as the back alleys of local cities they where ever they travel. They told me they want to put a piece on the big mural wall in Venice beach, if you have info on who to talk to be sure and post it in the comments section.
This street heritage translates into the gallery setting as Herakut’s paintings sometimes move from the canvas straight on to the wall. It gave the feeling that if someone hadn’t slid a canvas in front of them the entire piece would be on the wall and there’d be nothing for patrons to take home. “I hate white space,” confesses Siddiqui, “and the canvas is actually a small area for spray paint. I like a wall because I can use broad strokes”This is made apparent as she stands up a cardboard cut out (after the jump) that is nearly ten feet tall.

Herakut’s style involves a mix of loose line work, collage, and rather impressive photorealistic spray painting. “Germans love Dada, we love cutting things up” says Siddiqui. If this follows the conversation with pictures idea, it would appear that you can cut up a paragraph and rearrange the sentances before going to print.

If you go the show you will no doubt be as amazed as we were by the photo realistic technique that Lehmann literally wrote the book on. In the Ma’Claim: Finest Photorealistic Graffiti (shown below), Lehmann explains his process in step by step detail. In most cases we think photo realistic painting might miss the point, because it begs the question, “why not just photograph it?” But Herakut takes it a step further by adding line, color, and texture more common to fine art painting which truly sets their work apart.

If you’re interested in catching the show on opening night you can RSVP for the guest-list only opening reception this Saturday (4.12), for more info on Herakut, check out their site here.