Spencer Finch

2 MAY until 5 JUL 2025
Opening – 2 MAY 2025, 6-9 pm

In his sixth solo exhibition with Galerie Nordenhake Berlin, Spencer Finch continues his investigation of perception and memory. He creates works marked by a poetic sensitivity in capturing the ephemeral, preserving sensory observations that are barely perceptible.

For a series of vividly monochromatic paintings on wooden panels, he mixes four colors to create green, violet, or orange hues. The sides of the panels are painted in the tones used to mix the colors. Each variation exists in two versions, with slightly different tones used to achieve the exact same shade. The visually challenging works force careful observation with their marginal differences. They slow down our gaze and determine the pace of perception throughout the exhibition.

The Scent Drawings on paper further engage our senses: The almost achromatic motif becomes a distant representation of something barely discernible. Finch works with subtle scents while referencing art historical sources, thereby creating a complex perceptual moment through sensory combination.

In Raindrops (on Emily Dickinson’s Window, Spring), the artist reconstructs the reflection of the view from Emily Dickinson’s dining room using the finest brushes and a magnifying glass. While large parts of the paper remain unpainted, distorted depictions of the view appear in the raindrops. This results in a realistic study of visual distortion and simultaneously a profound yet poetic reflection on perception.

Much like a decoy, the works draw our attention. They play with our senses, slow down our gaze, and tempt us to look at something that pretends to be something else.