BERLIN.- With 'Holy Shit', on view at
galerie hiltawsky in Berlin presents the first exhibition in Germany by London-based artist duo BeckerHarrison. The show features 17 black & white photographs from their eponymous series, which was produced during Easter and Passover celebrations in Jerusalem. Their visual commentary on the coexistence of the three world religions Judaism, Christianity, and Islam is both subtle and ironic.
Using Carolin Beckers photographs like a canvas, painter and graffiti artist Simon Harrison integrates signs of a seemingly omnipresent military presence. Through skillful airbrushing techniques, he equips the depicted protagonists with weapons and other trappings. 'Holy Shit' thus visualizes the interplay of religion and violence that has prevailed in Jerusalem since the 1960s.
The work 'Machine Gun Preachers' depicts a procession of Catholic priests who seem to be armed with machine guns. Despite appearing astonishingly realistic, a closer look reveals the artistic intervention that transforms the pure (photographic) image into a commentary that is both abstract and political, an invitation to dialogue.
The London-based artist duo BeckerHarrison received critical acclaim in 2010 with their first solo exhibition, 'What A Difference A Day Makes', at The Outsiders, a project space by the well-known Lazarides Gallery in London. The collaboration between the German photographer Carolin Becker and the British painter Simon Harrison unites not only the mediums of photography and painting, but also diverse aspects of art and global history. This is exemplified by their well-known series 'Naked Truth', which is being shown in parallel to 'Holy Shit' starting 30 January 2016, at Potsdamer Strasse 85.