Julia Kuhl “I Forgot What You Wanted”

frosch & portmann

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frosch&portmann presents I Forgot What You Wanted, Julia Kuhl’s fourth solo exhibition with the gallery. With her recent drawings, the Munich based artist continues to investigate the relationship between line, color, texture, and text.

The dynamic, crisscrossing lines, drawn in watercolor, warp the surface of the paper. Movement and color combine to create a certain mood, while the text serves either to complement or to subvert it.

The plaid patterns suggest a friendly domesticity which the text often subtly and on occasion aggressively seeks to undermine. Common phrases, taken out of context, begin to seem ominous. Double meanings abound. Viewers are invited to free-associate and to create their own narratives taking these works as hints and prompts.

Kuhl gathers the words and phrases from myriad sources; some are invented, some originate in dreams, some are culled from books, conversations with friends, or song lyrics.

Julia Kuhl (b. 1966 in St. Petersburg, Russia), grew up in New York and now lives and works in Munich, Germany. She holds a BA from Hunter College and an MA from the University of Applied Sciences, School of Design in Hamburg, Germany. Her drawings have been included in numerous exhibitions and are represented in private collections in the US and Europe. Kuhl was Artist in Residence at Sammlung Prinzhorn, Heidelberg (Germany).