FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Friedrich Petzel Gallery is pleased to announce the opening of COMA SCULPTOR, the first solo exhibition in the United States of Berlin-based artist Björn Dahlem.

Björn Dahlem's installations and sculptures represent physical phenomena and scientific models. Black holes, high velocity stars, wormholes, homunculi, quarks and rays are constructed from pedestrian materials such as wood, neon, found lamps and carpet remnants thus foiling the viewer's expectations of scientific illustration.

The main gallery will be transformed into a galactic supercluster, the COMA SCULPTOR, which derives its name from Latin, meaning "the sculptor of paintings." The double meaning of this term hints at the inherent frivolity in Dahlem's approach to science:

The work "Coma Sculptor" derives, like all my works, from the infinite depth of space. The dimensions of glowing stars and human beings melt into a sphere of crystal beauty and Bavarian Gemütlichkeit (coziness). The light of the sculptures should reflect from the faces of man to the distance of space.
Björn Dahlem

In a related work, the back gallery will have sculptures of the five inner planets of our solar system.

Björn Dahlem was born in Munich in 1974 and has exhibited extensively in Germany. A catalogue entitled "Superspace" was published in conjunction with his 2001 exhibition at the Kunstverein Hamburg. The exhibition will open on September 5, with an opening reception from 6-8 p.m., and will be on view through October 4, 2003. For further information, please contact the gallery at info@petzel.com, or call (212) 680-9467.