Scope BLN
presents

LS43 – RESIDENT ARTISTS 2024

Alejandro Montero Bravo, Joseph James Francis, Mikko Kelloniemi, Piotr
Kolanko, Leoni Pirenne and Ida Sophia

June 27 – July 12, 2024
Opening: Thursday, June 27 at 6 pm.

In celebration of the 4th anniversary of Scope BLN Artists-in-Residence program, we are
thrilled to present LS43 – RESIDENT ARTISTS 2024, a group exhibition that encapsulates the
dynamic and multifaceted nature of the art of our current residents. This exhibition presents
the works of six international artists who have enriched our residency with their professional
perspectives and practices.

In the dynamic creative environment of Berlin, our residency program has fostered a
community where artists from diverse backgrounds converge, exchange ideas, and create
their works.

LS43 – RESIDENT ARTISTS 2024 is a testament to this spirit of collaboration and artistic
communication. The exhibition includes a wide range of media: sculpture, photography,
performance, video and sound.

As a unifying element of the whole project is the sound installation Shadows and Tender
Frailties by Joseph James Francis, located in the entrance of the Scope BLN building.
It iis is an exploration into the liminal space between noise and music, assembled from field
recordings and improvisations on Modular Synthesisers. The work is a homage to the
profound and often hidden parts of our humanity that lie dormant in all of us.
Ida Sophia presents a 10-minute video of her performance Verse. In this work she
tra/verses/ space. Re/verses/ memory. Repetitious circumambulation and spoken
word enact the idea that textual recall, combined with action, can revise
emotional associations to memory; reminding us, in Rilke’s words: no feeling is
final.

Another video is Mickey's Artist Interview by Leoni Pirenne. It stages the figure Mickey
Mouse in an interview video as you sometimes see at exhibitions of famous artists. For a
long time Mickey felt happy being the mascot of Disney but something has changed. He no
longer believes in the American dream and is looking for a new identity.

Magic is Real by Mikko Kelloniemi is part of The Empty Green, a body of work observing
humanity inside the vast horizon of digital transformation. We are facing a time saturated by
algorithms, artificial intelligence and overflowing content consumption. Humanity is
experiencing a shift towards a new cognitive state. How do we see ourselves in this great
unknown?

In his painting Fenix, Piotr Kolanko, presents the creative process as a continuous cycle of
building, destruction, and reconstruction upon the ruins. In his art, he reaches for various
media, constantly experimenting and expanding the spectrum of his abilities and interests.
He states that art finds its source in the unremitting force of libido, concentrated in the
compulsive creative process.

Locked and Loaded is a sculpture by Alejandro Montero Bravo. A textile braid attached to
metal chains. A controlled femininity that carries the weight of its social and historical
positioning. The feminine expressions that must endure the consequences of its innate
nature.

As we celebrate four years of Scope BLN Artists-in-Residence program, we invite you to
immerse yourself in the rich tapestry of voices and visions that define LS43 – RESIDENT
ARTISTS 2024.