Bangkok, 30 June 2022 — Aurum Gallery opened its first solo artist exhibition with ‘Shattered’ by Swiss contemporary glass artist Simon Berger. The exhibition, which features over 30 unique works, is the artist's debut show in Asia.
The Ambassador of Switzerland, H. E. Mrs. Helene Budliger Artieda, joined the preview opening at the gallery today. The artist himself, Simon Berger, was also present with a live performance piece which he created for the private view event. The guests enjoyed sparkling Swiss wine (courtesy of the Embassy of Switzerland), as well as live music performed by three of the most exceptional pianists of their generation: Chanya Bayla Somboonvechakarn (aged nine years), Sirima Pholtape (14 years), and Yuqiao Chen (14 years) to perform Mozart and Beethoven Concertos.
With a fascination for faces, Simon Berger explores the material of glass which he hammers, lacerates, cracks and engraves portraits that play with light and transparency, plunging the gaze into a meander of lesions that he calls ‘Morphogenesis’. As the pioneer of this technique, he has become one of the most talked-about and collected artists in the ‘urban contemporary’ art scene.
Trained as a carpenter and with a passion for mechanics, wood and scrap metal inspired his first pieces created from the streets. His unique technique was born out of his artistic explorations using car windscreens. In a form of apparent vandalism, his work provokes the theory of a ‘broken window’. The glass is a medium for making light come out of it, while the hammer is not used for destruction but for amplifying the effect.
‘Disorder does not only lead to crime, disorder can also be the kingdom of light. It’s about hope, not destruction. Light emerges from the hammer blows’.
The exhibition will be open to the public Friday 1 July — Sunday 31 July 2022. The artist will be in attendance and will create for public view several other live performance pieces over the first weekend of the show (Friday, 1st - Sunday, 3rd of July).