SAM3

A riddle is more than an open question. It is an invitation to look more closely, to recognise connections and to decipher meaning. This is precisely the invitation extended by the works of REMED and SAM3. In the duo show ENIGMA, we bring together these two artists, both long-standing members of our gallery programme, and present their new works.Two PioneersREMED and SAM3 are among the early protagonists of urban art, a movement that is still young today. Their work has been featured in MODART, and a mural by SAM3 appears in Banksy's film "Exit Through the Gift Shop". The two artists have known and admired each other for many years.1 + 1 = 3For ENIGMA, they painted several works together, exploring the overlap between their artistic territories. The result is three canvases in which both visual languages merge in remarkable ways and give rise to something entirely new. The ensemble is accompanied by a series of sketches that offer insight into their shared working process. In addition, both artists present individual works.Form and ColourREMED and SAM3 share a clear, reduced formal language, yet use colour in very different ways. SAM3 works in a highly reduced, high-contrast manner, primarily in black and white. REMED's works, by contrast, are vividly colourful. He generally avoids mixing colours, placing fields of colour directly side by side instead. These contrasts within the colour spectrum give his works a distinctive luminosity.Familiar and MysteriousVisitors can expect timeless works that engage with philosophical concepts and draw on motifs and symbols from classical antiquity. As a result, they feel both familiar and mystical, inviting viewers to reflect.REMED & SAM3 – "ENIGMA"Exhibition 17 November 2023 – 25 January 2024Opening Friday, 17 November 2023, 7 pmPretty Portal Brunnenstraße 12 40223 Düsseldorf

Working in urban space means thinking in space. For urban artists, facades, ledges, electrical boxes and lampposts are not just surfaces, but part of the work itself. What could be more natural than to detach one's visual language from the flat surface altogether and take it into the third dimension?From the Wall into SpaceIn Urban Sculptures, many of the artists represented by Pretty Portal show works in which they translate their visual language into space. In doing so, they experiment with a wide variety of materials: wood, metal, plastic and even Lego bricks. For as natural as urban space is to urban art, sculptures and objects have rarely taken centre stage so far, usually leaving the leading role to painting.Free-Standing and Wall-MountedPixelpancho shapes the protagonists of his paintings, his robots, as sculptures. Some works stand freely in the room, others are mounted on the wall, such as Jana & JS's abstract architectural views reminiscent of favelas. Also on show are abstract objects by Italian artist ETNIK, figures by Biserama, KJ263, Mono Cieza, SAM3 and WESR, and style writing in Lego bricks by Cole Blaq.URBAN SCULPTURES feat. Biserama, Cole Blaq, Cranio, ETNIK, Jana & JS, KJ263, Mono Cieza, Pixelpancho, SAM3, WESROpening 23 June, 7 – 10 pmExhibition 23 June – 11 August Monday – Friday, 11 am – 7 pm and by appointmentPretty Portal Brunnenstraße 12 40223 Düsseldorf

Spain is one of the most vibrant countries for urban art. From Madrid to Valencia to Galicia, a scene has emerged whose distinctive, often poetic and at the same time socially critical visual language resonates far beyond the country's borders.Curated by SAM3For SWEET ASH, Spanish artist SAM3, whose work we showed at Pretty Portal in 2010 and 2013, has brought together some of the best urban artists from his country and brought them to Düsseldorf. Alongside SAM3 himself, works by Aris, Daniel Muñoz, Hyuro, Jeice2, Limow and Liqen are on show. All of them are part of the lively Spanish urban art scene; they have taken part in numerous festivals, shown their work in solo and group exhibitions and been featured in many publications.Works on PaperThe exhibition presents works on paper: drawings as well as screen prints and linocuts. We cordially invite you to the opening on Friday, 17 June, from 7 pm. Liqen Liqen's works are poetic and full of mystery. He repeatedly explores the interwoven relationships between ancient cultures and nature, contrasting them with present-day conditions in our society. In doing so, he seeks to fathom the depths of the human mind and denounces the growing displacement of thought by machines and false values.Limow Limow combines abstract and figurative elements in an extraordinary way. While some of his works made of staples, sieves and pins play with materiality, scale and optical effects, his drawings and paintings captivate the viewer above all through their content: he creates mysterious worlds that blend past and future, seduction and darkness, and tell stories between humans and animals.Hyuro Hyuro explores the freedoms, fears and worries we are repeatedly confronted with in our surroundings. In many of her works, she focuses above all on the role of women in our society. She invites us to become aware of the boundaries and conditions that shape us and our existence, and questions the definition of freedom as a fundamental and inalienable right of every human being.Daniel Muñoz Daniel Muñoz has geared his art entirely towards working on and with public spaces. In this way, he aims to convey the message of his works directly to as many people as possible at once. His visual language is made up of symbols and codes, inviting viewers to read the work between the narrative perspective of classical painting and the moral discourses of contemporary art. All his works lend themselves to different interpretations.Jeice2 Jeice2, too, reflects on today's society and human behaviour in his works, often focusing on political problems and social injustice. His imagery is frequently very provocative and satirical in character. Sharp lines, strong contrasts and a clear connection to his themes are typical of his work.Aris Over more than twenty years, Aris has made a name for himself in the European urban and contemporary art world with his very own visual language. His works are distinguished above all by the way he lets forms merge into one another without sacrificing clear lines. Letters become silhouettes of human bodies, and individual silhouettes flow seamlessly into those of another body.SAM3 SAM3 is known for his silhouette-like murals, some of them as tall as houses, which often refer to their immediate urban surroundings. His images are ironic, poetic and, above all, provocative. They address classical philosophical themes, question habits and engage with current social debates. Reduced to just a few colours and with a partly graphic style, his images have an unusual presence. Despite, or precisely because of, their simplicity, they invite engagement and reveal their message little by little.His works are dominated by figurative elements in a state of metamorphosis with their surroundings. SAM3 works with symbols such as roots and ladders, and figures with oversized heads are typical of his style. Born in Spain, he currently lives in Madrid but paints all over the world, often creating not just images but entire stories, which he tells in his experimental stop-motion short films.SWEET ASH A group exhibition with works by Aris, Daniel Muñoz, Hyuro, Jeice2, Limow, Liqen and SAM3 Curated by SAM3Opening Friday, 17 June 2016, from 7 pmExhibition 17 June – 15 July 2016Pretty Portal Brunnenstraße 12 40223 Düsseldorf

Black, with curved horns, it stands along Spain’s roads and motorways: the Osborne bull. Few images there are as familiar, few as charged with meaning. SAM3 takes on this sign and transforms it, with paint, with bones, with fire.From billboard to landmarkThe bull was created in 1956 as an advertisement for a brandy made by the Osborne bodega. Hundreds of the huge silhouettes were put up across Spain. When roadside advertising was banned, the bulls remained, without lettering, as pure form. Today they are considered part of Spain’s cultural heritage and an unofficial emblem of the country.SAM3 has painted two of the real Osborne bulls in the landscape: one with the animal’s skeleton, another as a baby bull. In Canonicity we show how he brings this motif into the gallery. For the exhibition he rebuilt the bulls in wood and treated each one in its own way.Skeleton, calf and ashesAs with his bull in the landscape, SAM3 has painted the animal’s skeleton in white on one of the replicas: skull, ribs and leg bones lie on the black silhouette as if the animal were being X-rayed. He surrounded a second with sky blue and shrank the black bull inside it to a calf. The third he burned. The charred wooden silhouette with its pale scorch marks hangs next to a photo series documenting the burning.The result is three readings of one sign: the death behind the symbol, the small within the large, the destruction of a myth. These are interpretations. SAM3 lets the pictures speak for themselves, without explaining them.The heavy headAlongside the bulls we show drawings in ink on paper and a ceramic piece. The sculpture shows an oversized head on a body that is too small. It can be related to René Descartes’ “I think, therefore I am”: human beings live through their thoughts. At the same time it shows how top-heavy we are and how often we think too much. Figures with oversized heads are a recurring motif in SAM3’s work.About the artistSAM3 was born in Elche in 1980 and currently lives in Murcia. He started out with graffiti in the 1990s. He is known for his silhouettes, which he calls “shadows”: black, anonymous figures, often as tall as a house, that merge with their surroundings. His murals are ironic, poetic and provocative. Reduced to a few colours and a graphic style, they have an unusual presence and reveal their message only gradually.In 2007 SAM3 took part in Banksy’s Santa’s Ghetto project in Bethlehem. His murals can be seen in more than ten countries, including at the Fame Festival in Grottaglie and the Outdoor Festival in Rome. Besides painting, he works with sculpture, ceramics and drawing, and tells whole stories in experimental stop-motion short films. At Pretty Portal he showed the solo exhibition Nice to meet you in 2010.“Canonicity” SAM3 Vernissage: Friday, 26 April 2015, 7 – 10 pm Exhibition: 26 April – 14 June 2013 The artist will be present. Pretty Portal, Brunnenstraße 12, 40223 DüsseldorfNote (2026): In 2017 SAM3 painted another real Osborne bull, in the salt flats of Santa Pola, with motifs from Picasso’sGuernica*. He saw the work as a protest against bullfighting.*

Urban Art Künstler setzen sich intensiv mit verschiedenen Drucktechniken bei der Erstellung ihrer Werke auseinander. Als Paste-Ups sehen wir sie in den Straßen, wo sie Teil unserer alltäglichen Wahrnehmung werden. Die Ausstellung „Prints & Editions“ konzentriert sich daher auf diesen Aspekt. Zu sehen sind Holzschnitte, Radierungen und insbesondere Siebdrucke von 2SickBastards, Arno Beck, Base23, BTOY, C215, Decycle, L.E.T., Mexer, Mr. Penfold, Orticanoodles, Remed, Roman Klonek, Sam3, SMASH137, Sweet Toof, Tom Brane und weiteren Künstlern, die von Pretty Portal vertreten werden. Zudem zeigt die Galerie Drucke aus eigener Sammlung, darunter Arbeiten von Blek le Rat, Nick Walker, Paul Insect, Dolk, Faile und Hush. 2SickBastards, Arno Beck, Base23, BTOY, C215, Decycle, DOLK, Faile, Hush, L.E.T., Mexer, Mr. Penfold, Nick Walker, Oliver Räke (MAGIC), Orticanoodles, Paul Insect, Remed, Roman Klonek, Sam3, Shepard Fairey, SMASH137, Sweet Toof, Tom Brane, Valentina Brostean, u.a. Ausstellung : 30.03.-28.4.2012 Vernissage: 30.03.2012, 19-22h

Against a fan of light, a black silhouette holds its own face in its hand, removed like a mask. Where the face just sat, a turquoise skull gleams. Nice to meet you: whoever looks behind their own facade encounters themselves, and their own mortality.EncountersEncounters lie at the heart of the exhibition: with other people, with our surroundings, with ourselves. In his works, SAM3 poses classic philosophical questions about identity, transience and our place in the world. He observes human coexistence with a gaze that is ironic, poetic and, above all, provocative.Silhouettes in the CitySAM3 made a name for himself with his silhouette-like murals, some of them as tall as houses, which often refer to their immediate urban surroundings. Giant black figures and animals seem to wander along facades, reach for things in the street or watch over passers-by. In this way, the image enters into a dialogue with its environment, and the city itself becomes part of the story.Less Is MoreSAM3 rarely needs more than black and white. The bright turquoise in the exhibition motif is therefore a real exception in his work. It is precisely this restraint, together with his partly graphic style, that gives his images their unusual presence. Despite, or precisely because of, their simplicity, they invite engagement and reveal their message little by little. His works are dominated by figurative elements in a state of metamorphosis with their surroundings. Roots are an important stylistic element: they grow out of his figures as fantastically ornate structures, as if humans and nature were merging into one another.About the ArtistBorn in Spain, SAM3 currently lives in Madrid but paints all over the world, often creating not just images but entire stories. He tells them in his experimental stop-motion short films, in which his figures wander across walls, grow and transform."Nice to meet you" SAM3Opening Friday, 7 May 2010, 7 – 11 pmExhibition 7 May – 4 June 2010Pretty Portal Brunnenstraße 12 40223 Düsseldorf