PRESENT LIFE

Plain Gallery is pleased to present Present Life, a group exhibition of works by Aline Alagem, Renin Bilginer, Marlene Heidinger, Hannah Jeong and Zearo.

Present Life focuses on the analysis of daily activities and how they influence the meaning and perception of life. Explore the concept that even the simplest and most banal activities can have a profound meaning and that everything we do has an impact on our well -being and existence.    

In Aline Alagem’s works, feminine sensuality and desire are both a metaphor and realization of self manifestation. Working with oil on different formats that vary in scale and material, Alagem plays with the traditional appearance of painting: shifting from intimate formats to large scale installation objects, at times “boudoir” associated room dividers, or round paintings that can be rotated like massive, other worldly, sensual clocks.

Renin’s practice explores notions of fantasy and escape, whilst interrogating what it means to exist as a woman between Eastern and Western cultures. Influenced by Eastern miniature painting, Renin’s vibrant narrative compositions explore the parallel worlds of her mythologised experiences and her imagined alternative realities.

Heidinger’s work is driven by allegory and narrative storytelling. Her indelicate construction of mixed media scenes employ vivid color, varied texture, and distorted scale to intimate significance while pulling images from geology, biology, and an archive of personal photographs. These works elevate complex, but commonplace underlying feelings centered around family, relationships, shame, love, fear (and more) to the realm of the fantastical and the supernatural.

“I paint based on my memories, which I want to revive the feelings and experiences that I felt at that moment. Art is my medium to show my person of view. It has started what I drew based on my experience, as a daily diary. I paint to share my stories and communicate with others with their own stories”. Hannah Jeong

Zearo’s work takes on an autobiographical perspective to explore the relationship between same-sex figures. Influenced by his Southeast Asian background, he centres on lived experience by exploring ideas of longing, desire, memory, the male gaze, masculinity and Southeast Asian aesthetics.

Aline Alagem (b. 1981) lives and works between Berlin and Tel Aviv. She is currently studying in her final year at the Academy of fine Arts in Wien. She has participated in group shows at Lorin Gallery in Los Angeles, The Room Gallery in London, Tchotchke Gallery in New York, Jonathan Seiffert Galerie in Vienna, MISA ART in Berlin and CCA Andratx ( MISA ART - ARTIST FAIR ) in Mallorca.

Renin Bilginer (b. 1993) is a contemporary artist from London, with dual British and Turkish heritage. Renin graduated from The University of Brighton in 2019 and is currently studying MA Painting at the Royal College of Art. In 2019, she exhibited at Hove Museum and Art Gallery, The Truman Brewery and was selected for Hastings Art Forum’s Rising Talent show. In 2020 she was selected for the Zabludowicz Collection exhibition Women’s Lockdown Art. Recent exhibitions include RCA WIP 2022, RAW at Soho Revue and Otherlandz, Devonshire Square.

Marlene Heidinger (b. 1996) studied at University of Applied Arts in Vienna under Judith Eisler, Class for Painting and Animation. She works in the field of painting and experimental animation film, as well as illustration and choreography. She is currently studying Art Education, Curation and Management (ecm) at the University of Applied Arts in Vienna. Marlene is the founder of the curatorial collective sicc.zine.  

Hannah Jeong (b. 1999) studied at Seoul Art School. In 2018 she moved in Europe and studied at Kunst Akademie in Munich, Klasse Kretshmann and 2021 at Kunst Akademie in Karlsruhe, Prof. Vivian Greven. Lives and works in Munich.

Zearo (b.1996) is an artist currently based in London, having grown up in Kuala Lumpur. He obtained his Graduate Diploma in Fine Art at the Royal College of Art and is now a second-year student on the MA Painting programme.

WORKS