translated and summarized by: Liz Wollner-Grandville,
090215 : Kunsthaus Bregenz: Rosemarie Trockel - Märzôschnee ûnd Wiebôrweh sand am Môargô niana më
Kunsthaus Bregenz
Rosemarie Trockel - Märzôschnee ûnd Wiebôrweh sand am Môargô niana më
24.01.2015 – 06.04. 2015
Precision landing with a Gamsbart
by Nina Schedlmayer
Rosemarie Trockel's works have seldom been shown in Austria. Thus, the solo show at the Kunsthaus Bregenz is long overdue. Albeit, the Bregenz show doesn't present either the knitted pictures or the hotplates for which the German top artist was once famous. A hotplate merely finds resonance in a digital print. It's in amongst a collection of prints from which Trockel draws on her past from all different types of sources – they form the entrance to the exhibition almost as if the artist were giving insight into her references – some return later in their real form, such as bits of meat, striped pictures or sofas. Everything here appears to be tidy, exactly placed; and it continues further on the other floors: steel sofas with plastic covers are precisely arranged on grey carpets, wool pictures and hanging benches form a meticulous orthogonal composition.
However, Trockel also proves that she can still master the sarcastic joke, just as she used to. At the tip of a tube light which is mounted vertically on the wall, sits an over-dimensional contraceptive spiral in between which spirals a cord, a sword, a phallus, a contraceptive, yes one could associate a bishop's crook with this iconic work (descriptive name: "Spiral Betty"). The most complex work is waiting on the top floor: an androgynous figure looks curiously at the public – she wears a tub with Gamsbarts on her head, apparently stolen from huntsmen. Most conspicuous is her outfit – a pleated skirt inspired by the local Bregenzerwälder costumes, over which a bullet-proof weskit has been pulled. Trockel has devised a sort of Amazon here which nurtures a nonchalantly irritating contact with tradition. Trockel's style of uniting complexity with iconicity, and at the same time, to also be absolutely witty, is just as unique as it always was.
Kunsthaus Bregenz
6900 Bregenz, Karl Tizian Platz
Tel: +43 5574 48 594-0
Fax: +43 5574 48 594-8
email: kub@kunsthaus-bregenz.at
http://www.kunsthaus-bregenz.at
Opening hours: Tue - Sat 10-18, Thu 10-21 hours
090215
Kunsthaus Bregenz
6900 Bregenz, Karl Tizian Platz
Tel: +43 5574 48 594-0, Fax: +43 5574 48 594-8
Email: kub@kunsthaus-bregenz.at
http://www.kunsthaus-bregenz.at
Öffnungszeiten: Di-So 10-18, Do 10-20 Uhr
Kunsthaus Bregenz
6900 Bregenz, Karl Tizian Platz
Tel: +43 5574 48 594-0, Fax: +43 5574 48 594-8
Email: kub@kunsthaus-bregenz.at
http://www.kunsthaus-bregenz.at
Öffnungszeiten: Di-So 10-18, Do 10-20 Uhr