Other Voices
Review of the Gallery Weekend by Felix Dasilva
Review to the exhibition "demystifying" at the Gallery Weekend Berlin 2013
by Felix Dasilva
As a photographer the first thing that comes to mind when observing painting is light. Light is the very essence, the primary element of any image, therefore one needs to keep in mind that is what will separate painters from artists. And that was the first thing that my eyes witnessed on Gallery Weekend Berlin when I visited the Lars Deike Exposition.
He called it "Demistifying" which is actually true in his case because when I arrived in his show the first thing clear to me was the clarity and understanding of light.
With that in my mind observing the "Dark-rooms" and "dungeons"of his mind (ironically all presented in the " Berlin Evangelical Hospital" ) one could wonder how christian influenced Lars subconscious is. Perhaps Umberto Eco would have liked to have seen Lars' paintings before writing "The Name of the Rose" because I wonder whose mind is more middle aged Christian influenced at this point. Confirming my point of view was the very first scene that greeted me when arriving at the show. A painting called "Pray
" in which a boy (Lars' alter ego maybe" ?) give thanks to the creator for his wonderful instrument of pleasure which is his perfect body). Confirming that, was the the small painting next to it "the finge
r" in which the same model, frontally naked flips the finger and gives a dirty tongue to the viewer. God made him ready.
I could see that there was no darkness inside of his mind. Colors were well defined and light well presented. Enough to transport us not only to the scenes he wanted to portray but to the locations he used to paint his scenes. One particular piece, the so called "Vault Sleeping
"in which there is this boy sleeping in this green colored chamber, makes me feel that without disturbing his sleep I could wander the entire room, go up the stairs, explore the place, come back and find the same scene. He is ready for whatever I want to do with him, but I could just leave him sleeping there in his angelical innocent sleep and wander through the place. The light of it is so suggestive and inviting that I feel like exploring the place. If that first scene is a demo of what can happen, perhaps I need to see more of the place. And the piece "Nudes at the Staircase
" or "The Attic
" confirms that I do need to see more. It is food for thought, the beautiful boys waiting at every corner of the entrance of the building, make me go through them. If one likes surprises, these pieces will seem very tempting.
If being tempted is your thing the piece called "Toilets
" in which a lady in a rather suggesting pose invites you to interact with her body curves, her sensuality and poise. The room which she stands has three toilets one next to each other but the light blue colors in the walls brings more peace than torment bringing one to imagine that whatever he will doing there with her will be in full light. In my mind, instead of a seductress she is more of a "toilet fantasy angel" that in interacting with her, you will instead atone for your sins and absolve yourself by doing exactly whatever every dirty mind would think sinful. And if one by any chance felt dirty with whatever he did with the toilet angel lady, the atonement came right next to it in a piece called "x-factor
". There a boy is tied up on a very vulnerable position inviting you to decide what sentence he will have to endure to expiate for his sins and the sole judger of the sentence is you. What do you have in mind to punish him? You are free to create the punishment, again and again again if you happen to have the piece in front of you all the time.
If you happen to have seen Lars' exhibit, there is no point in pretending that you are not a voyer because anyone that likes painting is a voyer by nature but there you can admit it and use it. He makes being a voyer a virtue. So much so that the second room's bizarre leather and sado-masochist scenes become natural human interaction. The pieces called "Party people
" and "Fetish-Factory
"celebrate just that. You are one of them, in your naked innocence you are dressed to the occasion, in your interaction you are a mingling, you become part of this warm group of friends, and the lack of facial features confirms that every time you fantasize you are free to invite new guests with new faces to your "real" imagination.
But if partying with lots of people is too frivolous for you and you would rather have something more intimate you are in the right place. Pieces like "The Horse and Horseman ", "The cane ", "The Glove " or "At the surgery " will give you just that. It is you and the person you want to be alone with. It works well for that one face that you are completely obsessed with and cannot forget or if every time the face you want to be with just happens to change. It is still love. You and that loved one. In those 5 minutes or few hours of eternity, locked in sublime anonymous monogamy. Lars made punishing or being punished, causing pain or hurting, virtues of the soul. Thanks to him you can now feel good about it. One piece for me in highlight when talking about intimacy is "Blowjob " That piece reminds me of my 15 years relationship. It is the essence of commitment and trust. It is really profound love. It makes one feel like taking care or being cared for. The Adonis-like torso of the man getting the blowjob is an invitation for exploring him with your hands, caressing his chiseled abs and suggestive (hairy or smooth?) chest. A couple committed to itself will highly identify themselves to this celebration of union. Church bells ring when I look at that one piece.
Of course that doesn't satisfy all fancies. I, for example, like to have pure voyerism or sometimes just observing without being part of it, or even identified. In that I found my identity in pieces like "Fixation
" in which the boy tied up from behind. "Cum
" in which a beautiful boy holding his amazing phallus or "Sportslut
" in which this tied boy has his beautiful silky butt as invitation card, could be the ones you want to simply satisfy yourself with or elaborately torture for hours, perhaps you would just want to punish them. Not necessarily for anything they have done but to expiate your own doings so you can feel totally purified and clean after. And in case you feel too naughty, the boy being punished could just be you, and since you are alone you can surrender yourself to the hardest and deepest humiliations you fantasize with, because there since you are alone, and the person punishing you will never be identified, you will never have to feel ashamed. Again if you want to bring a dosage of intimacy to such beautiful sensations, you can combine two of the pieces together next to each other like "Cum
" and "Sportslut
" one is ready to satisfy his godlike phallus no matter how hurtful that will be to the other, that will be consequently ready to take it and serve his master by submitting himself to all types of painful submission. And in that satisfaction will be given to both parties. You decide if today you want to punish or be punished. It is all up to you.
In conclusion, I came to the decision that Lars after catering to the voyers, he decided to decode and demystify what so many are prejudiced against. In my very opinion Lars, as a citizen of the world, is quintessentially German. In fact he seems to be throwing Berlin at its face by making it look in the mirror and see itself. Like it or not it is all demystified.
About Felix Dasilva
Felix Dasilva is one of world best photographers.
Based in New York City and Amsterdam, Felix started photographing in 1998 when he started doing models' portfolios for model agencies. He has shot some of the best magazines and commercial campaigns. His work has taken him to locations around the world like Bali, the Caribbean, Brazil, Africa, North America and all major European countries! He has also photographed all major models in the world like Ana Beatriz Barros, Isabeli Fontana, Giselle Bundchen, Doutzen kroes, Caroline Trentini, Miranda Kerr, Caroline Ribeiro, Fernanda Tavares, Caroline Winberg, Dewi Driegen, Marcelle Bittar, Eugenia Volodina, etc. Contrary to most photographers that have one signature that is easily recognizable Felix has a variety so wide of styles that is difficult to tag or label him to one category. His styles have really no defined pattern. Going from the heroine chic to bursts of energy and candid smiles and sarcastic themes, he is able to do it all. But one thing that is easily recognizible in his work is a tendence to master movements better than most and he definitely shows a lot of energy in his compositions, but the best of his work (According to him) we are still waiting to see! He shoots e.g. for the Vouge Magazine, Schön Magazine, Tetu Magazine, Tulp Magazine, Pref Magazine, Las Olas Magazines, Tatler Magazine, Photo Magazin, Playboy...