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Austin Martin White: Last Dance

Past exhibition
16 September - 22 October 2022
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  • Works
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Overview
Installation view, Austin Martin White, Last Dance, Capitain Petzel, Berlin, 2022
Installation view, Austin Martin White, Last Dance, Capitain Petzel, Berlin, 2022

It’s all too much, really. There are credit cards to pay down, rent to cough up—never mind the wildfires and the mass shootings. A sense of pressure is building, impossible to contain but with nowhere to go. What do you do when it feels like your world is ending? 

 

You party. In Last Dance, Austin Martin White’s first solo exhibition at Capitain Petzel, radiant large-scale paintings and drawings depict euphoria at the end of history. White’s lush compositions cull from images of cataclysms past: European ethnographies of Indigenous war dances, colonial illustrations of Junkanoo performers in Jamaica, Detroit techno during white fight and urban neglect. White transfigures these visual fragments of racialized fantasy and violence through a distinct process, one that layers mechanical compression and the manual abundance of extruded relief painting. Amid the successive crises of Western domination, White gives form to the slippages that exceed regimes of control. 

 

Pressure and release are constitutive forces in Last Dance. These works begin as digital underdrawings that White constructs from colonial images, which he flattens into bare digital schematics. The resulting compositions are rendered on fabric fed through the barrels of a repurposed vinyl cutting machine. A technology designed to slice away plastic is transformed into a drawing apparatus, its razor stylus swapped to hold pens and markers. Hypnotically complex, White’s works index the machine’s frantic, computerized path in clustered grooves that fray as the ballpoints dull and the marker tips tatter. These kaleidoscopic tableaux erode the rationalized stability of their European source images, undermining visual strategies meant to dehumanize Black and Indigenous civilizations into flattened stereotypes. 

 

White’s paintings traffic in the deliberate misuse of grids, the enduring and hyperrational framework of traditional Western art. White applies a rubber-paint admixture to a mesh overlay from the reverse side, pushing the material through the latticed grid and onto the work’s surface. Breached by veins of polychrome paint, the mesh oozes with the material legacy of colonial extraction on rubber plantations in Brazil and Congo. Screens intended as barriers—to keep out bugs, nature, “wild” things—instead yield the pockmarks of a glowing moon or the figures in a nineteenth-century Sioux bear dance. 

 

White repurposes colonial tools to imagine a liberatory present. Misappropriating a vinyl cutter inverts its function, adding intricate pigment instead of cutting away plastic. Destabilizing the machine’s logic of production and efficiency, White nods to techno’s embrace of grinding metal against the death of Detroit’s auto industry. For all the centuries of colonial attempts at annihilation, fugitive joy persists. Spaces to be ecstatic, to be together, to just be. To party like it’s 1999. This is not the first time the world has ended, and it likely won’t be the last. 

 

Lucy Hunter 

 

 


 

 

Es ist einfach alles ein bisschen zu viel. Kreditkartenschulden müssen getilgt, die Miete muss bezahlt werden – ganz zu schweigen von den Waldbränden und den Massenschießereien. Es entsteht ein Druck, der sich nicht mehr eindämmen lässt, und für den es kein Ventil gibt. Was tust du, wenn du das Gefühl hast, dass deine Welt untergeht?

 

Du feierst. In Last Dance, Austin Martin Whites erster Einzelausstellung bei Capitain Petzel, zeigen strahlende großformatige Malereien und Zeichnungen die Euphorie am Ende der Geschichte. Whites opulente Kompositionen schöpfen aus Darstellungen früherer Katastrophen: europäische Ethnografien indigener Kriegstänze, koloniale Abbildungen von Junkanoo-Performern in Jamaika, Detroit-Techno während der Abwanderung der Weißen und der Verwahrlosung der Städte. White verfremdet diese visuellen Versatzstücke rassifizierter Fantasie und Gewalt mittels eines besonderen Prozesses, in dem mechanische Verdichtung und die handwerkliche Fülle plastischer Reliefmalerei aufeinandertreffen. Vor dem Hintergrund unablässiger Krisen der westlichen Vorherrschaft gibt White den Abweichungen von Kontrollregimen eine Form. 

 

Druck und Entladung sind konstitutive Kräfte in Last Dance. In einem ersten Arbeitsschritt erstellt White digitale Unterzeichnungen auf der Grundlage von kolonialem Bildmaterial, das er zu stilisierten digitalen Schemata verflacht. Die so entstandenen Kompositionen werden auf Stoff übertragen, indem dieser durch die Trommeln einer umfunktionierten Vinyl-Schneidemaschine geführt wird. Eine Technologie, die eigentlich zum Schneiden von Kunststoff bestimmt ist, verwandelt White in ein Zeichengerät, dessen Rasierklingengriffel gegen Stifte und Marker ausgetauscht wird. Seine hypnotisch-komplexen Arbeiten zeugen von dem rasanten computergesteuerten Bewegungsablauf der Maschine. Die dabei entstehenden Rillen fransen mit dem Abstumpfen der Kugelschreiber und dem Zerfleddern der Marker zunehmend aus. Mit diesen kaleidoskopischen Tableaus untergräbt White die rationalisierte Konstanz ihrer europäischen Vorbilder und deren bildnerische Strategien, die Schwarze und indigene Zivilisationen zu platten Stereotypen dehumanisieren.

 

Whites Malereien spielen mit dem vorsätzlichen Fehlgebrauch von Gitterstrukturen – dem beständigen und hyperrationalen Bezugsrahmen der traditionellen westlichen Kunst. Der Künstler trägt eine Gummifarbmischung von der Rückseite her auf ein Gewebe auf und drückt das Material durch das Gitternetz auf die Oberfläche der Arbeit. Durchzogen von Adern aus polychromer Farbe, trieft das Netz vom materiellen Erbe der kolonialen Gewinnung von Kautschuk auf den Plantagen in Brasilien und im Kongo. Gitternetze, die als Barrieren gedacht sind, um Ungeziefer, die Natur und „wilde“ Dinge fernzuhalten, weisen stattdessen die Pockennarben eines glühenden Mondes oder die Umrisse eines Sioux-Bärentanzes aus dem neunzehnten Jahrhundert auf.

 

White zweckentfremdet koloniale Werkzeuge, um eine emanzipatorische Gegenwart zu entwerfen. Er verkehrt die Funktion des Schneideplotters, indem er feine Pigmente hinzufügt, statt Plastik wegzuschneiden. Sein Aushebeln der maschinellen Produktions- und Effizienzlogik ist eine Anspielung auf den Techno, der vor dem Hintergrund des Verfalls von Detroits Autoindustrie den Klang von Metall feierte. Trotz jahrhundertelanger kolonialer Vernichtungsversuche bleiben Momente flüchtiger Freude bestehen. Räume, um ekstatisch zu sein, um zusammen zu sein, um einfach zu sein. Um zu feiern, als ob es 1999 wäre. Es ist nicht das erste Mal, dass die Welt untergeht, und es wird wahrscheinlich auch nicht das letzte Mal sein.

 

Lucy Hunter

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Works
  • Austin Martin White In the rubber coils, 2020 Burlap, rubber, pigment, vinyl and screen mesh 109 x 68.5 cm 42.9 x 27 inches
    Austin Martin White
    In the rubber coils, 2020
    Burlap, rubber, pigment, vinyl and screen mesh
    109 x 68.5 cm
    42.9 x 27 inches
  • Austin Martin White Thedeathofacartographer(2), 2020 Jute, 3m reflective fabric, rubber, pigment, graphite, vinyl and screen mesh Signed and dated verso 198.5 x 127.5 cm 78.2 x 50.2 inches
    Austin Martin White
    Thedeathofacartographer(2), 2020
    Jute, 3m reflective fabric, rubber, pigment, graphite, vinyl and screen mesh
    Signed and dated verso
    198.5 x 127.5 cm
    78.2 x 50.2 inches
  • Austin Martin White ownworst..., 2022 Polyester, burlap, rubber, pigment, vinyl and screen mesh 157 x 133 cm 61.8 x 52.4 inches
    Austin Martin White
    ownworst..., 2022
    Polyester, burlap, rubber, pigment, vinyl and screen mesh
    157 x 133 cm
    61.8 x 52.4 inches
  • Austin Martin White Untitled (Massacre des Blancs par les Noirs), 2020 Burlap, rubber, pigment, graphite, vinyl, spray paint and screen mesh 185.5 x 229 cm 73 x 90.2 inches
    Austin Martin White
    Untitled (Massacre des Blancs par les Noirs), 2020
    Burlap, rubber, pigment, graphite, vinyl, spray paint and screen mesh
    185.5 x 229 cm
    73 x 90.2 inches
  • Austin Martin White (last)Bacchanal ii (soundalarm) after B. Thompson, 2022 Jute, rubber, pigment, vinyl, spray paint and screen mesh 243.8 x 290 cm 96 x 114.2 inches
    Austin Martin White
    (last)Bacchanal ii (soundalarm) after B. Thompson, 2022
    Jute, rubber, pigment, vinyl, spray paint and screen mesh
    243.8 x 290 cm
    96 x 114.2 inches
  • Austin Martin White lyftoutofcrisis, 2022 3m reflective fabric, rubber, pigment, graphite, vinyl, spray paint and screen mesh 243.8 x 243.8 cm 96 x 96 inches
    Austin Martin White
    lyftoutofcrisis, 2022
    3m reflective fabric, rubber, pigment, graphite, vinyl, spray paint and screen mesh
    243.8 x 243.8 cm
    96 x 96 inches
  • Austin Martin White overcastingfluncer, 2022 3m reflective fabric, rubber, pigment, graphite, vinyl, spray paint and screen mesh 243.8 x 243.8 cm 96 x 96 inches
    Austin Martin White
    overcastingfluncer, 2022
    3m reflective fabric, rubber, pigment, graphite, vinyl, spray paint and screen mesh
    243.8 x 243.8 cm
    96 x 96 inches
  • Austin Martin White (last)Bacchanal(pity party) after B. Thompson, 2022 3m reflective fabric, rubber, pigment, graphite, vinyl, spray paint and screen mesh 243.8 x 289.5 cm 96 x 114 inches
    Austin Martin White
    (last)Bacchanal(pity party) after B. Thompson, 2022
    3m reflective fabric, rubber, pigment, graphite, vinyl, spray paint and screen mesh
    243.8 x 289.5 cm
    96 x 114 inches
  • Austin Martin White anotherway, 2018 Rubber, pigment, acrylic and screen mesh 245 x 243 cm 96.5 x 95.7 inches
    Austin Martin White
    anotherway, 2018
    Rubber, pigment, acrylic and screen mesh
    245 x 243 cm
    96.5 x 95.7 inches
  • Austin Martin White casta frag 2, 2020 Jute, 3m reflective fabric, rubber, pigment, graphite, vinyl and screen mesh 73.7 x 66 cm 29 x 26 inches
    Austin Martin White
    casta frag 2, 2020
    Jute, 3m reflective fabric, rubber, pigment, graphite, vinyl and screen mesh
    73.7 x 66 cm
    29 x 26 inches
  • Austin Martin White The Eviction (fordlandia), 2021 Watercolor, ink, acrylic and screen mesh on paper Signed, dated and titled verso Paper dimensions: 146 x 214 cm / 57.5 x 86 inches Framed dimensions: 154.6 x 221.4 cm / 60.9 x 87.2 inches
    Austin Martin White
    The Eviction (fordlandia), 2021
    Watercolor, ink, acrylic and screen mesh on paper
    Signed, dated and titled verso
    Paper dimensions:
    146 x 214 cm / 57.5 x 86 inches
    Framed dimensions:
    154.6 x 221.4 cm / 60.9 x 87.2 inches
  • Austin Martin White Revelation (fordlandia), 2022 Watercolor, ink, rubber, pigment and screen mesh on paper Signed, dated and titled verso Paper dimensions: 200 x 138 cm / 78.7 x 54.3 inches Framed dimensions: 209.4 x 146 cm / 82.4 x 57.5 inches
    Austin Martin White
    Revelation (fordlandia), 2022
    Watercolor, ink, rubber, pigment and screen mesh on paper
    Signed, dated and titled verso
    Paper dimensions:
    200 x 138 cm / 78.7 x 54.3 inches
    Framed dimensions:
    209.4 x 146 cm / 82.4 x 57.5 inches
  • Austin Martin White rubber harvesters (fordlandia), 2022 Ball point pen on paper Signed and dated verso Paper dimensions: 90 x 75.5 cm / 35.4 x 29.7 inches Framed dimensions: 95.7 x 81.6 cm / 37.7 x 32.1 inches
    Austin Martin White
    rubber harvesters (fordlandia), 2022
    Ball point pen on paper
    Signed and dated verso
    Paper dimensions:
    90 x 75.5 cm / 35.4 x 29.7 inches
    Framed dimensions:
    95.7 x 81.6 cm / 37.7 x 32.1 inches
  • Austin Martin White Ouch! (fordlandia), 2022 Ball point pen and vinyl on paper Signed and dated verso Paper dimensions: 77 x 68.5 cm / 30.3 x 27 inches Framed dimensions: 83 x 74.1 cm / 32.7 x 29.2 inches
    Austin Martin White
    Ouch! (fordlandia), 2022
    Ball point pen and vinyl on paper
    Signed and dated verso
    Paper dimensions:
    77 x 68.5 cm / 30.3 x 27 inches
    Framed dimensions:
    83 x 74.1 cm / 32.7 x 29.2 inches
  • Austin Martin White tree planting (fordlandia), 2022 Ball point pen on paper Signed and dated verso Paper dimensions: 88.5 x 71 cm / 34.8 x 28 inches Framed dimensions: 95.4 x 77.3 cm / 37.6 x 30.4 inches
    Austin Martin White
    tree planting (fordlandia), 2022
    Ball point pen on paper
    Signed and dated verso
    Paper dimensions:
    88.5 x 71 cm / 34.8 x 28 inches
    Framed dimensions:
    95.4 x 77.3 cm / 37.6 x 30.4 inches
  • Austin Martin White work cycle (fordlandia), 2022 Ball point pen and vinyl on paper Signed and dated verso Paper dimensions: 75.5 x 85.5 cm / 29.7 x 33.7 inches Framed dimensions: 81.5 x 91 cm / 32.1 x 35.8 inches
    Austin Martin White
    work cycle (fordlandia), 2022
    Ball point pen and vinyl on paper
    Signed and dated verso
    Paper dimensions:
    75.5 x 85.5 cm / 29.7 x 33.7 inches
    Framed dimensions:
    81.5 x 91 cm / 32.1 x 35.8 inches
  • Austin Martin White bathers (fordlandia), 2022 Ball point pen on paper Signed and dated verso Paper dimensions: 93 x 72 cm / 36.6 x 28.4 inches Framed dimensions: 98.2 x 77.2 cm / 38.7 x 30.4 inches
    Austin Martin White
    bathers (fordlandia), 2022
    Ball point pen on paper
    Signed and dated verso
    Paper dimensions:
    93 x 72 cm / 36.6 x 28.4 inches
    Framed dimensions:
    98.2 x 77.2 cm / 38.7 x 30.4 inches
  • Austin Martin White Cobalt spectre, 2021 Watercolor and ball point pen on paper Signed and dated verso Paper dimensions: 71 x 62 cm / 28 x 24.4 inches Framed dimensions: 77 x 69 cm / 30.3 x 27.2 inches
    Austin Martin White
    Cobalt spectre, 2021
    Watercolor and ball point pen on paper
    Signed and dated verso
    Paper dimensions:
    71 x 62 cm / 28 x 24.4 inches
    Framed dimensions:
    77 x 69 cm / 30.3 x 27.2 inches
  • Austin Martin White fireatthechurchofclubs (Bye Bye Berghain), 2022 Watercolor and ink on paper Signed, dated and titled verso Paper dimensions: 140 x 203 cm / 55.1 x 79.9 inches Framed dimensions: 147 x 209.5 cm / 57.9 x 82.5 inches
    Austin Martin White
    fireatthechurchofclubs (Bye Bye Berghain), 2022
    Watercolor and ink on paper
    Signed, dated and titled verso
    Paper dimensions:
    140 x 203 cm / 55.1 x 79.9 inches
    Framed dimensions:
    147 x 209.5 cm / 57.9 x 82.5 inches
  • Austin Martin White ghostsonthefloor, 2021 Watercolor, ink, rubber, pigment and screen mesh on paper Signed, dated and titled verso 179.5 x 136 cm 70.7 x 53.5 inches
    Austin Martin White
    ghostsonthefloor, 2021
    Watercolor, ink, rubber, pigment and screen mesh on paper
    Signed, dated and titled verso
    179.5 x 136 cm
    70.7 x 53.5 inches
  • Austin Martin White f*ckboyphantasm (ClubClimateChange), 2022 Watercolor, ink, rubber, pigment and screen mesh on paper Signed, dated and titled verso 155 x 126.5 cm 61 x 49.8 inches
    Austin Martin White
    f*ckboyphantasm (ClubClimateChange), 2022
    Watercolor, ink, rubber, pigment and screen mesh on paper
    Signed, dated and titled verso
    155 x 126.5 cm
    61 x 49.8 inches
  • Austin Martin White DotheDeadcat, 2022 Watercolor, ink, rubber, pigment and screen mesh on paper Signed, dated and titled verso 176 x 151.5 cm 69.3 x 59.7 inches
    Austin Martin White
    DotheDeadcat, 2022
    Watercolor, ink, rubber, pigment and screen mesh on paper
    Signed, dated and titled verso
    176 x 151.5 cm
    69.3 x 59.7 inches
  • Austin Martin White bunkerdance (ClubClimateChange), 2022 Watercolor, ink, rubber, graphite and screen mesh on paper Signed, dated and titled verso 155 x 158 cm 61 x 62.2 inches
    Austin Martin White
    bunkerdance (ClubClimateChange), 2022
    Watercolor, ink, rubber, graphite and screen mesh on paper
    Signed, dated and titled verso
    155 x 158 cm
    61 x 62.2 inches
  • Austin Martin White gatekeeping (ClubClimateChange), 2021 Watercolor, ink, rubber, graphite and screen mesh on paper Signed, dated and titled verso 195.5 x 142.5 cm 77 x 56.1 inches
    Austin Martin White
    gatekeeping (ClubClimateChange), 2021
    Watercolor, ink, rubber, graphite and screen mesh on paper
    Signed, dated and titled verso
    195.5 x 142.5 cm
    77 x 56.1 inches
Close
Installation Views
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Close
Press
  • Austin Martin White, DotheDeadcat, 2022

    Texte Zur Kunst: "Mnemosyne in Neon" (Austin Martin White)

    Julia Modes, December 30, 2022
  • Austin Martin White, (last) Bacchanal ii (soundalarm) after B. Thompson, 2022

    Artforum: "Austin Martin White"

    Martin Herbert, December 1, 2022
  • Austin Martin White, work cycle (fordlandia), 2022

    Flash Art: "Austin Martin White 'Last Dance' Capitain Petzel / Berlin"

    Philipp Hindahl, October 20, 2022
  • Austin Martin White, Untitled (Massacre des Blancs par les Noirs), 2020

    032c: "SMASHED COLLARBONES: Berlin Art Week 2022" (Austin Martin White)

    Claire Koron Elat, September 27, 2022
  • Austin Martin White, fireatthechurchofclubs (Bye Bye Berghain), 2022

    Welt am Sonntag: "Das Beste ihrer Art: Austin Martin White Bei Capitain Petzel"

    September 17, 2022

Related artist

  • Austin Martin White

    Austin Martin White

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