ASCENDIA
Galerie Sara Lily Perez is pleased to present our upcoming duo exhibition Ascendia a poetic exploration of humanity’s collective journey toward transformation, transcendence, and renewed possibility. The exhibition title, derived from the concept of ascending, serves as a metaphor for both personal and universal progress, capturing the aspiration to rise above boundaries, limitations, and the inertia of the everyday celebrating art’s capacity to evoke transformation as a process embodied in its subjects as an experience activated within each viewer. It invites contemplation of what it means to ascend: to grow, to transcend, and to discover new ways of being both individually and communally.
The exhibition thus acts as a gathering point, or “SammelPunkt,” for reflections on human potential and the transcendent possibilities of the creative spirit. Through Otto’s vibrant “Crowd Series” and Gonella’s richly textured allegories, “Ascendia” challenges audiences to reconceive the limits of identity, memory, and experience. It urges a collective ascent, toward light, understanding, and a deeper communion with the unseen forces that shape our world and ourselves.
FEATURED ARTISTS
Justine Otto (b. 1974, Poland)
Otto’s paintings and scultures navigate the space between figuration and abstraction. Trained at the Städelschule in Frankfurt, Otto has developed a distinctive visual language that combines expressive brushwork with stamping, scraping, and geometric fragmentation. Otto’s work often explores the layered complexities of identity, memory, and the interplay between the human figure and abstract spaces. Known for her expressive depictions of human figures, often mythic or militarized, and appearing fragmented, her layered oil paintings depict ambiguous figures ranging from youthful protagonists to archetypes of authority, rendered in vivid, jewel-toned palettes that evoke both intensity and dissolution. Her paintings challenge traditional representations of power, identity, and emotion. Otto’s process embraces tension and contradiction: forms emerge and vanish, realism collides with ornament, and narrative is suspended in psychological ambiguity. Her work offers a critical lens on power, gender, and vulnerability, and has been exhibited extensively across Europe and the U.S.
Giuseppe Gonella (b. 1984, Italy)
Gonella is a contemporary artist based in Berlin, having graduated from the Accademia di Belle Arti in Venice in 2008 he has since developed a rich international career, living and working in cities such as New York, Leipzig, Berlin, and Lisbon. His work often explores themes of memory, identity, and transformation, drawing on both classical painting traditions and contemporary visual culture. Gonella's paintings reflect on modern human rituals, dreams, and fears through dystopian and mysterious landscapes that blend memory with modern allegory seen through his expressive brushwork and fragmented narratives that invite viewers into emotionally charged, dreamlike worlds where time and space collapse.