DIRECTORY 2024

Joas Nebe | Collage & Work on Paper

Joas Nebe is a self-taught artist with degrees in psychology and literature. Originally from Hamburg, he now resides in South Germany, near the French and Swiss border. Notable exhibits include "Climate Change Cartoons" displayed at the Durban UN conference on Climate Change in 2011, and "Machine Fair," a film exhibited at the Museum of Modern Art, Moscow. His works have been showcased at various international festivals and screenings.

In 2021, Nebe received the Audience Award at the 1st International Conceptual Art Biennale in Latvia, followed by the 5th International Prize Leonardo da Vinci and the 1st International Pegasus Prize for The Arts in 2023, along with the 1st International Prize Michelangelo and the Career Art Award for lifetime achievement by Foundation Effetto Arte, Italy.

Nebe's analog collages, hand-cut from old books and magazines, redefine existing images and texts to create new narratives. The series is marked by voids and blank spaces, representing absence and referencing historical erasure, such as the Stalinist-era trials in the Soviet Union, where executed defendants' images were systematically deleted.

The use of voids also explores how memory fades over time, particularly in relation to loved ones or significant events. As time passes, the recollection of faces and details diminishes, leaving only fragmented traces challenged by the brain's continuous reshaping of memories with newer experiences. Nebe's collages serve as a poignant exploration of memory, absence, and historical narratives.

joasnebe.art

@joas.nebe