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Tore Rinkveld (Evol)
Tore Rinkveld, more widely known as Evol, is a German artist born in Heilbronn, 1972. He currently lives and works between Berlin, Germany and Russia and completed his education at Kuopio Academy of Arts and Crafts, Finland in 2000 and at HFG Schwäbisch Gmünd, Germany in 2001. Evol is primarily known for transforming everyday features of our cityscapes into miniature cardboard and concrete tower blocks using a variety of paint techniques. Inspired by post-war East German architecture, which he sees as a mirror for society, he paints directly onto the surface of electrical enclosures, concrete planters and other familiar elements of the modern city.

With a degree in product design, Evol has become known for his urban installations which often depict the lives of German residents living in decaying and gentrified urban accommodations. For most Germans, life in the immediate post-war years was one of rationing, shortages and poverty. Although Evol doesn’t spotlight his work as directly political, he does aim to use it as a platform to resemble and spread the message surrounding the effects of Modernism and Cost of Living issues.

'Caspar-David-Freidrich-Stadt' (2009)
Evol believes that the character and history of any space is manifested on its surface, and many of his works are a narrative or suggestive of the turbulent history of Berlin. A profound spectacle curated by Evol titled ‘Сaspar-David-Friedrich-Stadt’ is located within a 10mx8m hole in an abandoned slaughterhouse complex built by Hans Erlwein in 1906 in the heart of Dresden. The engrossing piece sits in the former foundations of a huge boiler plant which was utilised to derive soap from rendered beef fat or other utilisation of carcass.

The title ‘Сaspar-David-Friedrich-Stadt’ refers to the German romantic landscape painter Caspar-David-Friedrich, who was generally considered to be the most important German artist of his generation. The German word ‘Stadt’ refers to city, as Evol refers to the grand materialization apparent in the installation piece. Friedrich would typically feature gothic ruins along with various allegorical landscapes within his work. The Gothic tradition originated in the 18th century in response to a period of rapid and far-reaching societal, cultural, and theological change within Europe. A great deal of critical commentary focuses on the representation of societal and cultural fear in the face of the dissolution of tradition, gender roles, oppression, and race in Gothic literature. The followers of this movement rejected modernity - the aristocratic social and political norms of the Age of Enlightenment, the technological novelties of the Industrial Revolution, and the scientific rationalisation of nature.

Relations to this movement are depicted in Evol’s work as he aims to encapsulate the visual aspects of poorer districts within East-Germany where gentrification has become a growing issue due to the rise of travelling tourists. Activity and freedom meant the area got more and more popular, just like anywhere else. ‘Caspar-David-Friedrich-Stadt’ doesn’t have the same kind of “charm” that an ordinary tourist seeks, however it is not charmless. The work focuses on the visible history on the facades with marks from generations of inhabitants. The buildings silently tell stories of their inhabitants’ existences, acting as a standing point for those who feel they have lost their voice to the implementation of gentrification.