RSVP – Mélanie Berger, Yvan Derwéduwé & Kristin Posehn

RSVP is an exhibition of newly commissioned work produced in response to the gallery and its unique context. aspex is based in a nineteenth century naval storehouse, within the historic port, but also sits on the verge of a major retail and leisure complex. This environment offered the artists a diverse range of perspectives from which to draw their inspiration. As part of the Landscapes, Cities, People project aspex asked our partners Fabrica, Brighton; La Malterie, France; L’H du Siege, France; Kunst & Zwalm, Belgium and Netwerk, Belgium, to recommend artists who they considered appropriate for the RSVP project. It was essential that none of the artists had visited Portsmouth before.

Three artists were selected, Mélanie Berger, Yvan Derwéduwé, and Kristin Posehn. They were invited to spend some time at aspex and its immediate surroundings and research the history of the area, its people and culture. Following their visit, each artist returned home to develop ideas and new work in response to their first impressions of the place.

Mélanie Berger lives and works in Paris. Sketches, animations and books are used by Mélanie to express a constantly evolving chain of thought. The mistakes and flaws that occur during the production process are preserved and have become an essential characteristic of her work.

Kristin Posehn lives and works in Maastricht. Kristin’s work considers architectural space as a mutable collection of surfaces. Photography is used to map aspects of built environments. The images are then accurately assembled to produce a representation of the original structure.

Yvan Derwéduwé lives and works in Gent. Yvan pays particular attention to the expectations and unspoken codes that regulate human social behaviour. He subtly, sometimes provocatively, examines and questions these patterns. His work is firmly anchored in daily life and he employs a range of everyday and banal materials.

RSVP – download the catalogue