How true, and yet I mistook it!
26.04.–08.06.2024
Opening: 25.04.24, 17:00–21:00
“At first it looks odd, contradictory or wrong.
Then it makes sense.
And at this moment, according to Aristotle,
the mind turns to itself and says:
“How true, and yet I mistook it!”
From the true mistakes of metaphor a lesson can be learned.”
BPA// Raum is pleased to present How true, and yet I mistook it!, an exhibition initiated by BPA// alumn Cosima zu Knyphausen. How true, and yet I mistook it! brings together artworks that center on repetition, memory and error. The title draws on a phrase from Anne Carson's poem Essay on what I think about most, where a fragment of Greek lyric by the hungry spartan poet Alcmán, containing an error of arithmetic, is analyzed to reflect the idea of metaphor as “what causes the mind to experience itself in the act of making a mistake.”
Francisca Khamis Giacoman’s work with discarded, blundered embroideries addresses narratives and fragmented diasporic memories of migration. As part of the Palestinian diaspora in Chile, she looks at the story of her family who came to Santiago at the end of the 1940s to start a new life and textile business. In the paintings of Juan Larraín González, dream-like settings and motifs of nature are explored in the search for ways to depict feelings of inadequacy and queer resilience. The short films of Lanna Leite raise questions about cinema while dealing with the imageless history of her family in Brazil, as well as her own biography, marked by drastic relocations and slowly shifting faiths. Alicia Luz Rodríguez works with lo-fi self-publishing and performances, centering a newly acquired second hand printer as a catalyst of visual translations, actions in the public space and entrepreneurial fantasies. Over the last years, Craig Stewart has developed a long-durational drawing practice through detailed and repetitive mark-making. He is interested in slow methodologies as a counteraction to the systematic intrusions of the attention economy. Cosima zu Knyphausen’s paintings often depart from literary or artistic references, tapping into a space between the intimate and the historic and highlighting an entanglement of creation and desire.
Francisca Khamis Giacoman studied Visual Arts and Design in Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, Santiago, and at Sandberg Instituut in Amsterdam, where she is based. Francisca is the co-founder of Espacio Estamos Bien, an art cooperative in Amsterdam that organises gatherings, publications and exhibitions.
Juan Larraín González is a painter from Chile. After their studies of Visual Arts at Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile and Universidad Finis Terrae in Santiago, they relocated to Berlin. From 2017 to 2021, during a hiatus from painting, Juan co-directed stadium, an exhibition space and curatorial program at Potsdamer Strasse 70, Berlin.
Lanna Leite is a poet, translator and film maker from New York, based in Berlin. She holds a BA in Portuguese and Brazilian Literature and International Relations from Brown University, NY. She is currently pursuing a Masters at Hunter College, City University, NY, writing and researching about listening and “other ways of seeing”.
Alicia Luz Rodríguez is a former actress from Santiago, Chile. After reaching international renown with the leading role in the movie Young and Wild at age 19, and featuring in various films and telenovelas, she left Chile in 2019 to pursue a Masters in Performance at Iceland University of the Arts, Reykjavik. Alicia has been based in Berlin since 2021.
Craig Stewart is a visual artist from Scotland. He was a founding member of Islington Mill Art Academy, Manchester, a peer-led independent art school. After relocating to Barcelona, he set up an ongoing international artist exchange programme between Islington Mill and La Escocesa studios. He is currently based in Berlin.
Cosima zu Knyphausen is a Chilean artist based in Berlin. She studied Painting at Hochschule für Grafik und Buchkunst Leipzig and was a participant at BPA// in 2018. A catalogue with a selection of paintings from the last five years was published by Bom Dia Boa Tarde Boa Noite in 2023. Her work was recently shown at Museo de Arte Contemporáneo, Santiago; Weiss Falk, Basel and Briefing Room, Brussels.
BPA// Raum is a platform for artistic exchange. It is operated by BPA// Berlin program for artists and organized by Sophia Yvette Scherer and Anna-Lisa Scherfose.
BPA// Raum
Sophienstraße 21
Sophie-Gips-Höfe
10178 Berlin
Enter through red passageway
Opening hours: Friday – Saturday, 15:00–18:00
During Gallery/Sellerie Weekend 2024 (26.–28.4.):
Friday – Saturday, 11:00–19:00
Photos: Nick Ash
