For his first personal exhibition at Super Dakota, Adrian Geller composed a poetic universe inhabited by suited men, wild vegetation, and creatures. Using several mediums such as painting, watercolors, textile, installation, video and sculpture, the young Swiss artist presents a hyperbolic world full of contradictions and allegories. Throughout the exhibition Adrian questions the basis of our existence through various narratives such as social constructs, environment, capitalism, and labor.
Populated by recurring male characters confronted to their most primitive instincts, Adrian Geller’s paintings make use of symbols to depict an oasis within a complex and ancient bond. Figures of the dog, goat or sheep, which have had different connotations throughout Art History, are a constant reminder of our wildness. On the other hand, the suited men unmistakably represent the archetype of labor, and more specifically the concrete servitude to the corporate world. These businessmen appear to be consumed by hoarding and monetizing while manifesting a feeling of melancholy. They are torn between their personal quests and their external social appearances,uncapable of fully exploring their innate impulses nor giving up the comfort brought by a socially acceptable lifestyle. The interaction between these characters, the man and his alter egos, is at times ambiguous and includes all scopes of a complex relationship: violence, tenderness, companionship, desire.
