catalogue · vermibus · unveiling beauty

VerMibuSuNveiLInG beAuTy

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Berlin based artist Vermibus collects advertising posters from bus shelters. These ads become the base material for his work. By employing a solvent and manipulating the existing ink, he brushes away the faces and flesh of the models appearing in the posters, as well as the brand logos. Once the transformation is complete, he then reintroduces the adverts back into their original contexts.

Vermibus dehumanises the figures that were already depersonalised, as a means of launching a strident social critique against the advertising industry. The street is central to the message of Vermibus’ work, and it is where his art begins and ends.

Unveiling beauty

Motivation plus commitment multiplied by guts divided by determination equals talent. Or maybe it’s just a matter of simply doing what feels right, the right way at exactly the right time. Whatever your personal angle on how to define this particular term might be, it definitely happens just once in a blue moon to discover a talent whose vision is so peculiar and overall distinctive at an early stage already, as the one Berlin-based artist Vermibus is bringing to the table.Since the first collaboration between Vermibus and OPEN WALLS Gallery in 2012, the enigmatic artist certainly has stepped up his game in terms of execution and presence, even though the instruments he’s using remain the very same: solvent, paper and a trusted skeleton key. Within the last four years Vermibus did more than 600 interventions in public spaces worldwide, in which he’s challenging the audience by raising questions about value, significance and the perception of beauty through his signature style - proving that the art of adbusting can easily still imply subversiveness transformed by an intact social conscious, instead of being a simple vanity show.

If there’s a name strongly connected to the attitude and aesthetics OPEN WALLS Gallery is known for, then it certainly must be the one of Vermibus, as the numerous successful collaborations on group shows and art fairs in the past competently proved. Therefore it is kind of surprising all the more that “Unveiling Beauty“ actually presents the first official solo show of Vermibus at OPEN WALLS Gallery, which introduces more than 30 different works - ranging from exclusive pieces produced for this particular show to almost forgotten treasures from their archives - of this outstanding artist to the Berlin audience.

“Unveiling Beauty“ is a visual manifest about removing all these superficial layers life is lulling you with, showing that sometimes the radical act of deconstruction is a necessary one to let true beauty reign supreme again.

Vermibus

Exhibition views

OPEN WALLS GalleryJune 2nd. 2016 – June 25th. 2016

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Silenciosa tempestad

Dissolvent on paper19,9 × 29,9 cm2016SOLD

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Hazy hue

Dissolvent on paper18,3 × 23,5 cm2016

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On the wing

Dissolvent on paper45,6 × 28,9 cm2016

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Cuervos en la garganta

Dissolvent on paper25,2 × 32,9 cm2016

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Lenguas de fuego

Dissolvent on paper25,2 × 32,9 cm2016

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Alfonsina y el mar

Dissolvent on paper25,2 × 32,9 cm2016

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Duelo de cisnes

Dissolvent on paper25,1 × 32,9 cm2016

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Anonimity

Dissolvent on paper25,2 × 32,9 cm2016SOLD

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It wasn’t fair

Dissolvent on paper22,8 × 28,8 cm2016SOLD

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I don’t want to know

Dissolvent on paper21,9 × 26,9 cm2016

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Untitled - 12

Dissolvent on paper24,9 × 32,9 cm2016

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La Maza

Dissolvent on paper25,2 × 32,9 cm2016

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Verdugo y víctima

Dissolvent on paper25,2 × 32,9 cm2016

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El aliento de las flores

Dissolvent on paper25,1 × 32,9 cm2016

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Metamorphosis

Dissolvent on paper25,2 × 32,9 cm2016

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Thunderbird

Dissolvent on paper50,4 × 32,9 cm2016

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I want to run away

Dissolvent on original advertising poster116 × 170 cm2016

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Untitled

Dissolvent on paper26,8 × 35,9 cm2015

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Untitled - 16

Dissolvent on paper21,2 × 27,9 cm2016

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Acaricia el céfiro

Dissolvent on paper24,2 × 32,9 cm2016

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Serenata para la tierra de uno

Dissolvent on paper24,2 × 30,3 cm2016

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Todo cambia

Dissolvent on paper24,2 × 32,9 cm2016

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Silence before the storm

Dissolvent on paper16,6 × 22,4 cm2016

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Untitled - 4

Dissolvent on paper23,8 × 31,8 cm2016

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Los labios del pecado

Dissolvent on paper24,2 × 32,9 cm2016

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Rencor enquistado

Dissolvent on paper23,8 × 31,8 cm2016SOLD

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I trusted you

Dissolvent on original advertising poster50 × 70 cm2016

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Rujo en la tormenta

Dissolvent on paper21,9 × 29,1 cm2016

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Eternal

Dissolvent on paper27,8 × 35,4 cm2016

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Dolor y ternura

Dissolvent on paper24,2 × 32,9 cm2016

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Where the lure is

Dissolvent on paper24,5 × 24,5 cm2016

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Untitled - 22

Dissolvent on paper24 × 32,8 cm2016

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Untitled - 30

Dissolvent on paper25,2 × 32,9 cm2016

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Why don’t you take me there

Dissolvent on original advertising poster116 × 170 cm2016

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Grito del estaño

Dissolvent on paper21 × 25,5 cm2015

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Sodade

Dissolvent on paper19 × 24,4 cm2015

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Ulysses and the mermaid

Archival Pigment Print on 190gsm Museum Natural Fine Art Paper30 × 40 cm2015

OPEN WALLS GallerySchröderstr. 11, 10115 BerlinT +49 177 9703963 guillaume@openwallsgallery.com http://www.openwallsgallery.com

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