20/11/2008
Frances Stark
Portikus, Frankfurt
The New Vision. The works of Frances Stark arise mainly out of a complex system of references comprising texts and images. Thus the metaphorical significance and composition of the written word on the canvas or the paper form the starting point from which her collages and texts draw their creative sustenance. She creates networks made up of different found and discovered symbols, cuttings and graphic elements, quotations from literature and autobiographical references in the delicate ornament of her collages.
The works of Frances Stark (b. 1967, lives and works in Los Angeles)
arise mainly out of a complex system of references comprising texts
and images. Thus the metaphorical significance and composition of the
written word on the canvas or the paper form the starting point from
which her collages and texts draw their creative sustenance. Equally
important for her method of working are visual templates from the
world of art; they can be derived from classical art, but can also be
taken from textual and pictorial material from a more contemporary or
sub-cultural genre. She creates networks made up of different found
and discovered symbols, cuttings and graphic elements, quotations from
literature and autobiographical references in the delicate ornament of
her collages. Equally characteristic for the contextual composition of
the works is the illumination of and engagement with her own personal
creative process as well as with the diverse roles and attitudes she
adopts as an artist and author. Stark’s approach is accordingly
characterized by a repeated self-referentiality within her own work.
Motifs and textual fragments, but also complete thematic threads can
weave their path through several cycles of work. Frances Stark’s two
publications Frances Stark: Collected Writing, 1993-2003 (2003,
Bookworks, London) and Frances Stark: Collected Works (2007, Verlag
der Buchhandlung Walter König, Cologne) trace this development most
beautifully. Frances Stark’s works are informed for the most part with
a fine sense of humour; it manifests itself both in the special choice
of motif and in the minimal composition of the respective elements
when engaging with the dynamic tension inherent in "public and
private" or "gravity and irony, i.e. posing".
Up to now Frances Stark’s works have been on view in German-speaking
countries in solo exhibitions at venues such the Secession in Vienna
(A Torment of Follies, 2008) and in the Kunstverein München (Ich suche
meine Frances Starke Seite, 2000).
The group of works originated for Portikus entitled The New Vision
shows 17 new works on paper and canvas, which likewise refer partly to
models from classical art, partly autobiographical fragments, partly
early works and partly texts from her immediate professional
environment. Frances Stark’s unique method in The New Vision clearly
demonstrates once more that by constantly varying the aesthetics and
dispensations of the game with the lightest of touches, it is possible
to adopt one’s own role in the art world’s system among the range of
analytical, conceptual and a playfully poetic approaches.
With the generous support of the Deutsche Bank Stiftung.
Press conference: November 21, 2008, 11 am
Opening: November 21, 2008, 8 pm
Portikus
Alte Brucke 2 - Frankfurt