“Clasp” 2022. Oil & acrylic on canvas. 70x40cm.
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A new painting that I finally got properly photo’d (Thanks @tgood_foto ) I’ve shared some glimpses of it in progress, but here’s the finished piece. I’m getting ready to send it out into the world… 🤍🌬🪁🦋🌀💫
Your work blends detailed imagery with abstraction and collage — what does ambiguity allow you to express that clarity never could?
Ambiguity is slippery. Ambiguous things slide between words, definitions, and meanings. They are filled with possibility, more questions arise than answers. So, we look longer. It’s like the Zen phrase, „not knowing is most intimate.“
John Kleckner
Artist, Berlin
@john.kleckner #johnkleckner #onequestionbyfm #futurememorynow #onequestionbyfuturememory
Exhibition views from Flock of None @flockofnone
Thank you Trevor @tgoodgood for the opportunity to present these artworks and for the beautiful photos of the show @tgood_foto
Thank you to the many friends who came by for the Vernissage. I was sincerely moved by all the support and thoughtful conversations.
Works on display:
“Bridge” 2024
Oil and acrylic on canvas
50x30cm
“Self-Portrait 45” 2024
Ink and graphite on paper
30x20cm
“Sustain” 2021
Oil and acrylic on canvas
130x100cm
#johnkleckner #illusionisticspace #stickpainting #barkbeetles #borkenkäfer #greenman #flockofnone
Opening reception, Sunday, 28 July from 3-8pm.
@flockofnone Pannierstrasse 19, 12047 Neukölln.
(2nd Hof, “Daily Studios” buzzer)
I hope to see you there!
Image: detail of “Bridge” 2024, oil and acrylic on canvas, 50x30cm.
Colin Huerter has initiated a new project called @five.flights.up hosted by St. George’s in Prenzlauerberg. The idea is to exhibit an artwork paired with a poem. I chose “Keeping Things Whole,” by Mark Strand. (Thanks Ewa Atanassow for the inspiration.)
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St. George’s is not a typical art venue. That’s partially why I’m excited to exhibit there. Independent bookstores have long been an important sanctuary for me. As a teenager I discovered the Beat Poets in City Lights, later in my twenties I worked at Prairie Lights @prairielightsbooks and Skylight Books in LA. Whenever I’ve moved to a new place, a great bookshop has helped me feel quickly at home.
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I can’t think of another room where I’ve displayed my work that I’ve felt more comfortable and really wanted to linger a long time. Please visit in the next weeks, browse some books, check out my painting, read the Mark Strand poem.
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Self-Portrait 45, 2023-2024
Ink and graphite on paper
20x30cm
Earlier I shared a glimpse of this one IP, here it is finished. I’ve chosen to leave some areas around the face without ink, rendered faintly in graphite, intentionally looking unfinished. I think this preserves openness, appears less rigid or fossilized— perpetually becoming. It asks a viewer to imagine filling in the remaining details.
The border areas around the portrait contain notes and scribbles that subtly underscore my presence; passing thoughts passing through the hand of the maker.
The plethora of flora & fungi framing my face is my interpretation of the historical motif of the foliate head, aka “green man.”
#foliatehead #greenman #johnkleckner #detaileddrawing #stipplingart #meditativedrawing #impermanence #rotringisograph
New Self-portrait as foliate head. Animated process, swipe for finished piece.
Living organisms all around, within us, before us, and after.
7x9cm, ink on paper, 2023.
…stippling…
dot, dot, dot, dot
#foliatehead #greenman #johnkleckner #plantriachy #detaileddrawing #stippling #metamorphosis
Currently reading: The Forest Unseen by David G. Haskell.
I highly recommend this book for anyone interested in a deeper understanding of the rich ecosystem of a forest. Haskell spends a year scrutinizing one square meter of forest, expounding and elucidating the complexity, resilience, and beauty of living things most of us are probably not aware of.
Every chapter is exquisitely detailed, scientifically rigorous, reverent, and accessible. As I read, my feelings oscillate between awe and utter humility for how scant my knowledge is. There is so much to learn and discover.
🔎🌳🌼🐝🍄🔎🐌🐛🪲🦎🔎
This is a book to come back to again and again.
Regarding moss, Haskell writes, “…their beauty rises exponentially with nearness.” This proves true for everything he describes in his square meter forest mandala.
@davidgeorgehaskell #theforestunseen
