Tillman Kaiser at Wilkinson

Tillman Kaiser at Wilkinson

24 April, 2009
by: Katuschka

Is it possible that Tillman Kaiser has a Superman complex? The paintings and sculptures in his new show Hallucination Engine, at Wilkinson, all bear an uncanny resemblance to Kal El's Fortress of Solitude. Come to think of it, has anyone ever seen Tillman Kaiser and Superman in the same room together? Case closed, methinks.

Hallucination Engine is a series of kaleidoscopic works with a scaled-down colour palette, which draw on constructivist artists such as Kasimir Malevich, the geometric aptitude of Op-Art and the makeshift aesthetic of Dadaism. Kaiser presents a huge portfolio of paintings and several sculptures made out of cardboard which all look like the 'alien planets' from '60s era Star Trek. Yes, there is a distinctive, makeshift sci-fi vibe, but Kaiser's influences are widespread – from imagery of slavery to Orwell's 1984 – and it is a testament to his skill that his canvasses can show so many different faces and retain a coherent look. Kaiser's paintings are described as fragments of a day in the life; shards of eyes, faces, snatches of words all float in milky ether, accusatory, imploring, half-remembered, and questioning; the look is turned upon the viewer and the effect is disarming.

There is a vast body of work here. Kaiser's paintings are huge and fill two room's worth of walls; and his sculptures – jagged cardboard structures painted black or white and adorned with glass windows and domes – are scattered liberally about like the detritus of a crashed spaceship. In the upstairs room, Kaiser has painted a prismic rainbow around the door, and displayed are screens and his cruder work involving driftwood stuck to glass panels.

The balance of retro pastels and sharp edges makes viewing feel as though you've been engulfed by a Pink Floyd album cover. The name Hallucination Engine implies scientific artifice and a controlled system. Yes, these are hallucinatory, but they are harnessed by a symmetrical control and rigid adherence to patterns formed in nature. Some images such as Free for All/All for Free are mirrored to distort the meaning like a cosmic palindrome. This is a trippy glide through an alien landscape of fractal flowers, DNA streams, prisms and creaky '60s futurism.

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Katuschka