TAL RBabylonia

“Over the years Tal R has built up an archive of more than 1,000 photographs showing the façades of sex shops. Between 2014 and 2017 he drew some 150 sheets after the motifs in the archive. The advertising lettering on the façades points to the wide-ranging origins of the photographs; English, Italian, German, French and Danish names recall the international locations. Lavish and spare, colourful and inconspicuous house fronts alternate with one another. Doors, windows and lettering form the essential elements of the façades. Sometimes female bodies are fitted into the compositions, sometimes floral forms or patterns of hearts, architectural ornament and awnings. The views of the façades therefore shimmer between the ordinary and the exotic. There are buildings that say nothing about their function and their contents, and others that proclaim what they have to offer in the manner of a market crier. The French titles sound romantic, the German ones vulgar or generic. In their search, customers will presumably respond correctly and with practised ease to the information on the façades. From the Shop, where one buys, to the Villa Les Roses, where one dreams, everything is to be had.” (Excerpt from the text by Siegfried Gohr)

Exhibition:
Contemporary Fine Arts CFA Berlin, 9/9 – 21/10/2017