Clemens von Wedemeyer 'Against Death' (2000), courtesy the artist and Galerie Jocelyn Wolff, Paris

Part II  Preview:  Against Death
Wednesday 8 January  6 — 8 pm

CIRCA Projects are proud to present the first solo exhibition in the UK, outside of London,
by the German artist Clemens von Wedemeyer.  The celebrated work of von Wedemeyer is characterised by its exploration of the rituals of cinema and documentary, and by its use of looping narratives and dizzying repetition. For this solo exhibition, a different film from von Wedemeyer will open every two weeks. Against Death (2009) and From the opposite side (2007), represent the artist's use of cinematic strategies and motifs in his attempt to draw together the relationship between the two languages of cinema and art. Emerging out of the artworks themselves, the concept for this exhibition format draws on the constantly revolving scenarios we see in von Wedemeyer’s films as they loop temporally, physically and narratively within a space, pushing the boundaries of the screen.  A new publication – with film stills and text by Axel Lapp – will accompany the exhibition.

Against Death
9 February  — 24 February
Preview: 8 February  6 — 8 pm

For the final part of the exhbition 'Clemens von Wedemeyer', following the presentation of From the opposite side, CIRCA Projects present the artists only work made in the UK.  In Against Death (2009) a man has seemingly become immortal after joining a tribal ritual. The film is part of von Wedemeyer’s project The Fourth Wall (2009), an exploration of the myth of the Tasaday people – an allegedly undiscovered tribe in the Philippine rainforest which came to international attention in the 1970s. At CIRCA Screen, Against Death is presented together with the film Interview (2009) which depicts the talking head of Geoffrey Frand, described as lecturer, ethnographer and actor; it is not at all obvious which guise we are seeing.  This is the first time Against Death has been presented in the UK since it's original commission and exhibtiion at Barbican, London, in 2009.

Publication Launch
Wednesday 8 February  6 — 8 pm
To mark the occasion of the exhibition 'Clemens von Wedemeyer', CIRCA Projects have produced a new limited edition publication, available in an edition of 100, with new text by writer, curator, publisher and Art Review's Contributing Editor for Berlin, Axel Lapp.

Clemens von Wedemeyer was born in 1974 in Göttingen, Germany. He lives and works in Berlin.  Between 1996 and 2005 he studied at the Fachhochschule Bielefeld and the HGB Academy of Visual Arts Leipzig. In 2005 he received the Kunstpreis der Böttcherstrasse in Bremen. In 2006 he was the winner of the German competition at Internationale Kurzfilmtage Oberhausen as well as the Karl-Schmidt-Rottluff-Stipendium. Wedemeyer has exhibited at the Moscow Biennial in 2005 and at the Berlin Biennial in 2006. In 2007 he participated in the Skulptur Projekte Münster. Solo exhibitions include Kölnischer Kunstverein; MoMA PS1; Barbican Art Centre, London; and in 2011, the Frankfurter Kunstverein; Project Arts Cente, Dublin; Kunsthal Charlottenborg, Copenhagen; and the Jüdischen Museum, Berlin.

Clemens von Wedemeyer
at CIRCA Screen
ThePlace, Atheneaum Street
Sunderland SR1 1QX

Opening Hours:
Tuesday — Friday: 12 pm — 5 pm

circaprojects.org