Month: January 2009

Anna Lena Grau I Frank Hesse I Eske Schlüters
Der Satz “Es steht geschrieben.” (The phrase “It is written.“)

A quotation from the late work of Ludwig Wittgenstein “about certainty“ applies to a central concern of the three artists and is used as the title of the exhibition. The phrase “It is written.“ vouches in a biblical context for the truth of the following narration. Disassociated from this context, however, it loses this certainty and discloses other, new viewpoints such as, an auto-reference of the phrase on a visual level. Anna Lena Grau, Frank Hesse and Eske Schlüters search archives looking for forgotten or unknown stories. In their artistic work, they investigate philosphical and scientific methods looking for the extraordinary viewpoint in what is already known.

Frank Hesse´s (1970) work walks a fine line between scientifically precise examination and art. With his great appreciation for nuances he tells stories whose dramaturgy mirrors the highly topical discourse on the visual language in art and science.

In his two-part work ”De Ou Par Marcel Duchamp (2008)” Frank Hesse refers to the legendary father of conceptual art, Marcel Duchamp. His research led him to Duchamp’s childhood. In order to mark his favourite place in the garden of the house where he was born, Duchamp, at the age of 12, carved his name and the year on a beech tree: Duchamp Marcel 1901. The present owner of the property had to fell the tree in 1993 because it would otherwise have toppled. He did, however, keep the piece with the inscription and it is still in his garage. The treetrunk object was documented by Hesse in accordance with the artistic and contextual allegations in the first edition of the ”The Complete Works of Marcel Duchamp“ by Arturo Schwarz. Frank Hesse supplements the catalogue raisonné; the two pages – a painting and an index section- are inserted by means of a thin silver chain.

Eske Schlüters’ (1970) videofilms are a game of words, sounds and individual images redolent of their metaphorical character and the greater context which has been lost. By using film material from films made by other directors, Schlüters is writing a personal history of film in which complex atmoshpheres unfold in brief flashes. By using single and multiple projections, she researches the ”comprehension“ of moving pictures which are not governed by a strict narrative structure. Her open narrative method plays with conceptual thinking, agitating it and discovering new meanings.

Eske Schlüters latest film ”After the Rehearsal (2007)“ is based on a documentation of the shooting of Chatal Akerman’s film ”Jeanne Dielmann“ and focuses on the rehearsal of what are essentially everyday activities. The defamiliarisation effect inherent in cinematic dramaturgy is spotlighted by the isolation of the scenes where the actress rehearses her role for the camera. Eske Schlüters reflects the actor’s task of genuinely embodying the role, also on the level of sound when she translates from various languages texts on theatre theory and assembles them into an autonomous composition.

Anna Lena Grau’s (1980) interests are dominated by natural scientific areas as well as history of art. Her small-sized glass objects, the „Quallengläser 2008“ formally follow the inner moulding of a jellyfish, transfer its specific method of locomotion to the technical possibilities of glass blowing. The inversions and protuberances of the jellyfish glass objects are created by heating selective points of the viscous blow glass. For very large inversions, additional glass is partially melted which, with the aid of flow strength and additional suction in the blow tube, is then stretched. In her examination of scientific phenomena she educes formal structures from existing image associations, makes them independent, connects, layers, superimposes them freely associated with similar formations to then return them to the object.

“I am not interested in unambiguousness,“ writes Anne Lena Grau, “I examine moments in which the logical comprehension of familiar situations becomes confused, moments when the ambiguousness of the world becomes apparent. My work therefore consists of finding exemplary surrogates whose perception is able to split kaleidoscope-like, who experiences his own perception echo-like and floating.

Art Agents

"Street Art. Inspiration"

Vejle Kunstmuseum

Jeppe Hein "Kuru Kuru"

Born in Denmark in 1974, Jeppe Hein works out of Berlin and Copenhagen.

Jeppe Hein’s works are fun. One of his installations is a labyrinth made from mirrors that confuse the viewer’s visual and spatial perception, transforming the surrounding scenery through mirrored reflections while at the same time melting into it as the reflections provide camouflage. Another work is made from variously shaped benches that resemble playground equipment, some slanted, others twisted. Yet another presents the mysterious spectacle of a flame crowning a jet of water. In another water sculpture, water columns form labyrinths. When people enter, the walls of water sense their movements and react by rising and falling, luring them from one room to another and trapping them within the fountain.

Using a humorous perspective as his first point of contact, Hein’s works naturally draw the viewer in, creating opportunities for communication. Although the materials he uses and the forms he creates are simple and minimal, they stimulate the visual and bodily senses that we use to interpret the world around us. This stimulation of our basis for cognizance provides both a playfulness that that leads to spontaneous interaction with the viewer and a depth that leads to profound experiences. The works of Jeppe Hein may exist as physical objects in themselves, but they are also abstractions of the perceptions and physical and psychological experiences generated when viewers encounter them, as well as venues and opportunities for meaningful dialogues with the work and the space it is placed in.

This social nature, allowing and encouraging the viewer to interact, is a characteristic of Hein’s art. In addition to exhibits presented at art museums and international exhibitions, he has created many large public installations. A huge project combining a solo exhibition at Denmark’s ARoS Aarhus Kunstmuseum with public art throughout the city planned for 2009 is already garnering much attention. Jeppe Hein has also opened an art bar in Copenhagen called Karriere, incorporating commissioned work from numerous artists to create a new space for expression and for thinking about communication.

As an artist, Hein is fascinated by how communication between his work and the viewer plays out in different ways under the influence of cultural differences. Naming his second solo exhibition at SCAI “Kuru Kuru” (Japanese for “round and round”), he has chosen to exhibit circular and spherical works as a basis for approaching Japanese culture, in which the circle can symbolize enlightenment or truth.

By interacting with these works made of neon lights, mirrors, stainless steel, and other materials, viewers of the exhibition will find their perceptual and cognitive logic shaken from various perspectives and enjoy a wide variety of experiences, from refreshing surprise to a sense of frustration or confusion. While exposing the object-observer relationship between his works and the viewer, this exhibition also presents the viewer with an opportunity to consider the uncertainty of that relationship. We hope that the exhibition will allow many people to experience and interact with Jeppe Hein’s art, and to enjoy it on many levels.

Scai The Bathhouse

Michael Waugh

“The more I see of men, the more I admire dogs.” -Marie-Jeanne Roland 1754-1793

Schroeder Romero Gallery is pleased to present The More I See of Men, the gallery’s third solo show by Michael Waugh – with work that bridges the gap between two great American events, the inauguration of a new president in January and the Westminster Dog Show in February.

The drawings that comprise this show continue Waugh’s exploration of the drawing technique called micrography, through which tiny hand-written words are used to build up visual images. As Waugh’s work continues to evolve, the drawings have become denser and more expressive; yet they remain deeply engaged in politics and the rhetoric of official history.

The work presented in The More I See of Men, uses the text of reports commissioned by U.S presidents as its starting point. These reports, which often serve the purposes of political propaganda, present research on issues as diverse as the attacks of 9/11, the assassination of President Kennedy, and the privatization of social security. Waugh uses these texts to create a dizzying filigree of bureaucratic documents that coalesce into the form of dogs – waiting to serve their masters. Rich with allegory and dark humor, these drawings subvert the obvious, optically shifting between image and text, figure and ground. These are drawings that transcend their source by reminding us that viewing is not passive.

Dogs are a common subject in popular art; and, after portraits of people, portraits of pets are the second most commissioned subject. Part of the critique inherent in this series of drawings is a comparison between the banality of such artistic commissions and the banality of commissioned propaganda. The knowledge that dogs have been bred to serve us, to listen and do our bidding unquestioningly makes the critique more biting. The centerpiece of the show, entitled The Commission for a National Agenda for the Eighties, is over eight feet tall and almost ten feet wide; it contains over 300 pages of handwritten text; it took six months to complete. Such vast amounts of labor given over in service to such specious propaganda cannot be felt easily. Like the history of the country into which this work delves, this show overflows with generosity, with a contradictory, heartbreaking beauty.

Michael Waugh received his MFA from Texas State University. His work has been shown at Ronald Feldman Gallery, NY; OKOK Gallery, Seattle; The Morris Museum, NJ; and at The University of Connecticut, among others. New work will be included in Solution, a group show curated by Janet Phelps at DiverseWorks, Houston, TX in March. He received a residency from the Brodsky Center for Innovative Editions at Rutgers University in 2008 and is a Joan Mitchell fellowship recipient at the Vermont Studio Center for 2009. The Artist would like to thank Argosy Books for its support of this project.

Schroeder Romero

>>GROUP SHOW: 4 YOUNG FEMALE ARTISTES

Port de Suisse Winter Season Opening: Friday, January 16, 2009, 5–8 pm

LOUKIA ALAVANOU – BERTA FISCHER
LAURINA PAPERINA – REBECCA THOMAS

To kick off Zurich’s Galleries Winter Season’s Opening, HAAS & FISCHER presents works by four young European artists. The artist-quartet connects a playful lightness and experimentation in dealing with content, material and form.

Rebecca Thomas will live-perform at the opening.

Haas Fischer