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10/11/2011

Sybille Hotz / Georgette Maag

Widmer+Theodoridis contemporary, Zurich

Sybille Hotz -Trippen

Widmer+Theodoridis contemporary is delighted to present Sybille Hotz's third one-woman exhibition in Zurich. 'Merging', 'Mnemosyne' and 'Popek' are three stand-alone groups of works or 'Trippen' that form a unique and explorable installation, which is literally spread over the entire gallery space.

One re-occurring theme in Hotz's work is human sensory and cognitive perception – not only one's own perceptive ability, but also the unique possibility humans have to learn from others. Books that elucidate the world in images, such as manuals, encyclopaedias and lexica, provide the inspiration for her motives, which she then sublimates and creates anew. Her freely arranged associative chains defy all scientific principles and can only be decoded on an individual level.

'Trippen' (as in trip, journey, travel) works on various levels with memory and experience, and take the viewer on a personal journey. The textiles, green, root-like objects hanging from the ceiling, 'Merge' into each other and can be interpreted as metaphors for the networking of memories. The motives found on the 'Mnemosyne' curtain, named after the Greek goddess of memory, were associatively chosen and positioned to offer the viewer absolute freedom when creating their own associative chains – it is a game with the memory triggered by the motives. The eye glides over thematic clusters of stitched drawings and pieces them together to form a mind map. In the art of mnemonics, memory aids or mnemonic tricks have been developed to help with the orientation and navigation of memory. Some of the motives disappear in the convoluted curtain while others remain clearly visible. Information is stacked and re-organised. There are further ways of reading the motives and more possibilities for association when the curtain is viewed from behind. 'Popek' is more specific: more than forty stitched drawings based on the artist's longplanned trip to Peru and Bolivia. Inspired by memories Hotz gives free reign to her thread. Nourished by freedom and an insatiable urge to explore she sets off on an inner journey.

'Trippen' unifies tactile, visual and cognitive perception and combines the different image worlds found in 'Merging', 'Mnemosyne' and 'Popek'. Spatial levels are condensed and become physically palpable.

Sybille Hotz lives and works in Berlin. She graduated from the Hochschule für Bildende Künste Braunschweig and completed a Master of Fine Arts at the Arnheim Atelier. Her work has been exhibited internationally, most recently at the art fair PREVIEW Berlin in September 2011

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Georgette Maag - Schimmer

Widmer+Theodoridis contemporary is delighted to present Zurich-based artist Georgette Maag's video installation 'Schimmer' in the 'Ehegraben' project space. Viewers will see three short video loops in the alleyway and a projection in the courtyard.

As if by magic, 'Schimmer' conjures up an image of something that was never actually seen in a medieval town's 'Ehegraben' or sewage depository: clean water, a silently flowing brook with a shimmering surface. In the first three video loops we see maple leaves float down a body of water. The sub-surface shadow of each leaf is visible gliding over other leaves, which have already descended to the bed of the brook. The camera is used here to capture long, uneventful moments or filmic still lives. Light reflecting off a watery surface illuminates the alleyway leading into the courtyard. The confrontation of natural phenomena has been given impressionistic immediacy in Maag's 'Shimmer' installation. The representation of light and atmospheric condition appears to be her primary objective. The results are a far cry from the camera's fundamental function as a recording apparatus, and are characterised by appearing to be incidental image sections (Paysage, 2001, video, Kunstraum Kreuzlingen).

Contrary to the image and information overspill of the current media age, Maag focuses on a reduced yet highly intensive view of the world. The everyday is transformed into the mystical, where nature appears, at least at first glance, to be excessively idyllic (Oenothera biennis, 2011, video installation at Maison Turberg, Porrentruy). Just as sentimentalism was considered supplementary to pure rationalism during the enlightenment, 'Schimmer' is also characterised by its contemplative qualities and its proximity to nature. In opposition to her forerunners, Maag's critical views of the present-day enable her to resist romanticised idealism. In her works she fills apparently empty living spaces with human players and analyses their actions (Chanson de Geste, 2008, video, Projektraum Tellstrasse 20, Zurich). This leads to a contemplative and repetitive observation of everyday procedures, which stimulate subjective experiences, feelings and deliberations.

With inconspicuous virtuosity, Maag's work spans the spectrum from projected reflection to cerebral reflection, thereby closing the circle between the impressionism of light and echo.

Georgette Maag lives and works in Zurich. She graduated in 1997 with a degree in visual arts from the Academy of Arts in Basel. Since 1989, Maag has regularly exhibited works in the fields of drawing, photography, video and installation at such places as the Haus für Kunst Uri and the Aargauer Kunsthaus. She received Zurich's 2001 atelier stipend for the Cité Internationale des Arts in Paris and the 2006 atelier stipend for the Künstlerhaus Nairs in Scuol. Her exhibition together with Denise Kobler "LONDON NAIRS NAIRS LONDON" took place in the Bärengasse Museum in Zurich in 2010.

Image: Sybille Hotz

Opening: 10 November 2011 - 19:00

Widmer+Theodoridis contemporary
Weggengasse 3 - Zurich
Opening Hours: Wed-Fr 2 - 6 pm, Sat noon - 4 pm, and by appointment

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