Throughout history, art editions have been a means to utilise the power of image repetition for greater accessibility and availability. Now more than ever, it is imperative to provide the public with affordable contemporary art pieces. With this aim, this holiday season BBA presents BBA Editions, a group exhibition featuring a wide variety of artists represented by the gallery including some works from our previous Photography and Artist prize competitions.

Editions have a rich global history with engraving in Europe and 13th century traditional woodcut printmaking in Japan and Asia. In response to the rising prominence of print mass-media in the 20th Century, many artists such as the German expressionists Ludwig Kirschner and Emil Nolde re-appropriated printmaking techniques to exert agency over the distribution and value of their works. To this day, print editions continue to be a prominent medium in the art world, as a crossroads between classic technique and contemporary accessibility. 

Contemporary editions have evolved from traditional printmaking to encompass a wide range of formats including photography. BBA Editions brings together all kinds of practices such as painting, sculptures, photography, digital art and more, to create a diverse assemblage of works that promote accessibility within the art world. People from all walks of life create art under a diverse human experience. It follows that the enriching opportunity to own a unique piece of art should be openly available.

Single works can often feel costly for first time buyers. Editions with lower price points bridge this gap while also retaining the authenticity of the works. Each piece belonging to an edition carries within itself traces of the artist’s peculiarity and character.  We want to inspire the next generation of collectors by celebrating the creatives of tomorrow. 

The editions are readily available to purchase in person at the gallery. To foster accessibility in the art market, BBA is soon launching a brand new online store through which the public can purchase works from editions. Editions provide the opportunity for a special Christmas gift for your art lover friends and family; with artworks that are both compact and affordable.

Artists
Kristoffer Axén, Rómulo Celdrán, Giulietta Coates, Mario Ermoli, Vincent van Gaalen, Rhys Himsworth, Chirag Jindal, Renata Kudlacek, Ming Lu, Tobias Molitor, Kaleef Oladele Lawal, Mark Peterman, Susanne Piotter, Vishal Shah, Martin Stranka, Heiko Tiemann, Olga Wagemans, Diana Wolzak.

BBA Gallery is pleased to present "Rómulo Celdrán: Digital Tenebrism", the first solo exhibition of the exceptional Spanish artist in Berlin. With his latest series of hyper-realistic paintings “Digital Tenebrism” (2020-now) Celdrán explores the Baroque tradition. The Tenebrists are known for their dramatic chiaroscuro painting. Deeply impressed by the paintings of the seventeenth century, Celdrán creates scenes inspired by Caravaggio, Ribera and Zurbarán. Instead of candlelight, however, the scenes in Celdrán's paintings are lit only by mobile devices such as smartphones or tablets, which are checked by the figures in the darkness of their domestic surroundings. Where silence pervades the unlit areas, the theatrical darkness in "Digital Tenebrism" leaves room for the viewer's own imagination. In the artist's words, "The darkness was no longer scary for me. It becomes an intimate space for meditation and reflection."

Completing the exhibition are the latest hyper-realistic sculptures from the HI-RES body of works, a series of enlarged household gloves called SOLID. Using 3D computer modelling, HI-RES explores the relationships between the art object, which takes visible reality as a reference point, and the boundaries of veracity between observable reality, art and science. By simulating a household glove, SOLID's verisimilitude erases the Platonic distinction between original and copy.

Rómulo Celdrán (*1973, Spain) is an internationally recognised artist in the fields of painting, sculpture and drawing. He had his first exhibition at the age of 16 and managed to consolidate his career as a self-taught artist, with excellent execution and attention to detail. His high level of sophistication has led to his presence at leading fairs (SCOPE, ARCO, Art Cologne) and in important collections (Beth Rudin DeWoody Collection, Artium, CA2M, Museum Art Plus, Biblioteca Nacional). Since the groundbreaking exhibition 'Realism: The Adventure of Reality' at Kunsthalle München (2010), Celdrán has continued his negotiation with truthful visual representation. Earlier this year, Forbes magazine named Celdrán as one of eight Spanish artists whose work is currently rapidly increasing in value. Celdrán came to the attention of BBA Gallery through his participation in the Artist Prize founded by the gallery.

Die BBA Gallery freut sich, mit "Rómulo Celdrán: Digital Tenebrism", die erste Einzelausstellung des spanischen Ausnahme-Künstlers in Berlin zu präsentieren. Mit seiner jüngsten Gemäldeserie “Digital Tenebrism” (2020- jetzt) setzt sich Celdrán mit der barocken Tradition auseinander. Die Tenebristen sind für ihre dramatische Hell-Dunkel-Malerei bekannt. Tief beeindruckt von den barocken Gemälden des siebzehnten Jahrhunderts, schafft Celdrán Szenen angelehnt an Caravaggio, Ribera und Zurbarán. Anstelle von Kerzenlicht werden die Szenen in Celdráns Gemälden jedoch lediglich durch mobile Geräte wie Smartphone oder Tablet beleuchtet, das von den Figuren in der Dunkelheit ihrer häuslichen Umgebung überprüft wird. Wo die Stille die unbeleuchteten Bereiche durchdringt, lässt die theatralische Dunkelheit in "Digital Tenebrism" Raum für die eigene Vorstellungskraft. Mit den Worten des Künstlers: "Die Dunkelheit war für mich nicht mehr unheimlich. Sie wird zu einem intimen Raum für Meditation und Reflexion."

Komplettiert wird die Ausstellung durch die neuesten hyper-realistischen Skulpturen der Werkgruppe HI-RES, einer Serie von vergrößerten Haushaltshandschuhen namens SOLID. Mittels 3D-Computermodellierung untersucht HI-RES die Beziehungen zwischen dem Kunstobjekt, das die sichtbare Realität als Bezugspunkt nimmt, und den Grenzen der Wahrhaftigkeit zwischen der beobachtbaren Realität, der Kunst und der Wissenschaft. Mit der cleveren Simulation eines Haushaltshandschuhs hebt die Wahrhaftigkeit von SOLID die platonische Unterscheidung zwischen Original und Kopie auf.

Rómulo Celdrán (*1973, Spanien) ist ein international anerkannter Künstler in den Bereichen Malerei, Skulptur und Zeichnung. Seine erste Ausstellung hatte er bereits im Alter von 16 Jahren und es gelang ihm, seine Karriere als Autodidakt zu konsolidieren, und zwar mit hervorragender Ausführung und Detailgenauigkeit. Sein hohes Niveau hat dazu geführt, dass er auf den führenden Messen (SCOPE, ARCO, Art Cologne) und in wichtigen Sammlungen (Beth Rudin DeWoody Collection, Artium, CA2M, Museum Art Plus, Biblioteca Nacional) vertreten ist. Seit der bahnbrechenden Ausstellung 'Realism: The Adventure of Reality" in der Kunsthalle München (2010) setzt Celdrán seine Verhandlung mit wahrheitsgetreuer visueller Darstellung fort. Das Forbes Magazin hat Celdrán zu Beginn diesen Jahres als einen von acht spanischen Künstlern benannt, deren Werk derzeit rasant an Wert gewinnt. Die BBA Gallery wurde auf Celdrán durch seine Teilnahme an dem von der Galerie gegründeten Kunstpreis aufmerksam.