Upstream Gallery presents Zeitgeist, a solo exhibition of conceptual paintings, video and sculpture by Marc Bijl, that question the notion of truth in an overloaded stream of propaganda, tags and fake news.
‘Zeitgeist’, as the defining spirit of an era, is one of those few German phrases that are also known in the English-speaking world. Marc Bijl, who lives and works in Berlin, chose it as the title for his exhibition in which he shows new works that address our current cultural climate of information overload, and in which too many sources are undermining our view on truth and facts. The political black and white thinking of Bijl’s earlier works and the symbolic search for structure seems to have completely vanished in these ‘times of blurry conflicts’, as Bijl describes them. Furthermore, his distinctive gloomy style has given way to bright colours and an often sleek, and industrial finish. The new works do however remain ominous, as if the use of sweet colours is only meant as an additional smoke curtain for the multitude of disinformation that guides our current society and lifestyle.