Mariele Neudecker
dal 13/3/2008 al 18/4/2008
Segnalato da
13/3/2008
Mariele Neudecker
Galerie Barbara Thumm (old location), Berlin
Faintly Falling Upon All the Living and the Dead. For this exhibition, the artist consistently pursues the endeavour to take landscape to the breaking point, especially in view of Romantic symbolism. On show life-size casts of trees transplanted into the gallery.
We are pleased to present new work by Mariele Neudecker in her forth
solo-show at Galerie Barbara Thumm.
The meaning of nature and landscape has changed and their reception and
visual representation have been influenced accordingly. As aesthetic
subjects they are in a constant state of flux; to the same degree they, in
turn, determine our perception.
For this exhibition, Mariele Neudecker consistently pursues the endeavour to
take landscape to the breaking point, especially in view of Romantic
symbolism.
Whereas in the past her work has revolved around atmospherically condensed
mountain, lake and forest landscapes in glass display cases, now under the
title Faintly Falling Upon All the Living and the Dead, the artist
Œtransplants¹ life-size casts of trees into the gallery. The fibreglass
sculptures are faithful reproductions of nature, lopped at a height of four
metres and robbed of both their crowns and their needles. Especially against
the background of the second gallery installation Kindertotenlieder, layers
of association form: the tree as a symbol of life. It is not without reason
that a tree is customarily planted on the occasion of a child¹s birth. Its
leafless counterpart, however, can be understood as a visual manifestation
of mortal fear.
At the same time, Mariele Neudecker makes a statement on the role of
contemporary sculpture. The small area of forest floor upon which the trees
are positioned like columns on a base is cut on all four sides in such a way
as to expose the material and the artistic method of reproduction to view.
Faintly Falling Upon All the Living and the Dead refers to the monumental
and permanent installationen This Thing Called Darkness by Mariele
Neudecker, which will be presented at the Towada Art Centre, Towada (Japan)
April 2008.
Part Two of the exhibition consists of two small models and a room which can
be physically entered by the viewer. They emerged from Mariele Neudecker¹s
preoccupation with Gustav Mahler's Kindertotenlieder, meditations on the
death of children. Mahler chose them from a series bearing the same title
of more than four hundred lamentations written by the German poet
Friedrich Rückert in 1871.
Each room portrays a different form of mourning: painful grief, numbness and
loving memory. Despite the acoustic overlapping, every song is heard to good
effect in its own surroundings. The first piece in Mahler¹s cycle announces
the child¹s death. Through the window of the room, Mariele Neudecker
projects the image of a sunset onto the interior wall. Here landscapes
appear both as a stage set and as a framed picture. A domestic environment
is thus merged with a vision of nature.
Due to the stage-like character, the unprocessed appearance of the rooms¹
exterior walls and the exposed installation of the projection equipment, the
romantic analogy created by the work is strongly alienated from the visible
outer frame as the conception of an inner world.
(Text: Angelika Richter)
We are happy to announce the inauguration of our second gallery space at \\
Markgrafenstr. 68, 10969 Berlin. The opening reception of You Don¹t Like the Weather, Change It by
Bigert & Bergström will be held on March 19, 2008, 7-9 pm (20.03. 19.04.
2008).
Opening march 14 2008
Galerie Barbara Thumm
Dircksenstrasse 41 - Berlin
Free admission