Sat in the intersection between photography and painting, Alina Frieske’s solo exhibition Nightly Newsfeed explores how accustomed we are to unsorted visual information held close to our bodies. Her tangible approach to photography speaks to the physicality of touch in relation to digital media and devices.
Using fragments of images as her primary medium, Frieske explores the expanding digital network that constitutes our virtual realities. Sourced from an unlimited flow of online images, she records countless fleeting moments documented by strangers. Frieske cuts this extensive resource into ever smaller fragments to make up her colour palette, before prismatically collaging them into new compositions. In applying each layer like a brushstroke, she infuses her work with the tactility of painting; multiplying, stretching and overlaying her material to create new figures and surroundings. Each clipping marks the tension between stripping away and covering up online traces.
The works exhibited feature close ups and night scenes that invite the audience to confront themselves with an almost voyeuristic intimacy. Body fragments, reflections and barely recognisable belongings form the visual vocabulary of Frieske’s collage technique. Her work poignantly reflects upon representations of identity and the commanding impact of social networks on our lived experience.
Alina Frieske (b. 1994, Berlin) lives and works in Berlin, Germany. She studied Visual Communication at Maastricht Academy of Media Design and Technology, Netherlands (2014-2017) before completing her MA in Photography at ECAL/University of Art and Design Lausanne, Switzerland (2019). Frieske has gained international recognition for her work, receiving awards from Stiftungspreis Alison und Peter Klein Stiftung (2023); Visual Arts Senate Department for Culture and Europe, Berlin (2021) & the ING Talent Award, Netherlands (2021). Frieske has exhibited with Fabienne Levy, Lausanne at several international art fairs including: Miart, Milan (2024); Dallas Art Fair, Dallas (2024)); Expo Chicago, Chicago (2023); Artissima Art Fair, Torino (2022); Art Geneve, Geneva (2022); Zona Maco, Mexico (2022) & Art021 Art Fair, Shanghai (2021). Solo exhibitions include Fabienne Levy, Lausanne (2024, 2022 & 2021).
Selected group shows include Centre de la Photographie de Genève, Switzerland (2024) & Centre régional de la photographie Hauts-de-France, Douchy-les-Mines (2024) Photo Elysée, traveling exhibition, Switzerland (2023); Centre photographique Rouen Normandie, Normandy (2022); Photo Vogue, Milan (2022) & Last Tango, Zürich (2022).
