A tightly wound, painstakingly produced cassette tape wheel painting brings the exhibition literally and figuratively full circle; by chance I discovered the magnetic tape for recording sound was invented in Germany and developed in this fashion.
Galerie Perrotin is pleased to present the first solo exhibition of Gregor Hildebrandt
in Hong Kong, opening on March 12.
When Gregor Hildebrandt moved into his Berlin apartment in April of 2010, he
was welcomed to his new home by a discarded, worn down doormat with the
Chinese characters “Come in Peace / Leave in Peace”. The wise, old doormat,
had entered his world by chance, and in all of its dormant glory, was coming by
hazard. Embracing chance, he saw it as a good omen of security and a priceless
deterrent for thieves, as no one would suspect anything of value behind the
door it guarded, and vowed to show it, should the opportunity present itself,
at the threshold of his first solo exhibition in Hong Kong. That future is now.
The coming by hazard doormat is an apt signifier for Hildebrandt’s work. The doormat,
like the vinyl records, VHS and cassette tapes that lie at the foundation of his work, is
a lyrical recording device. It tracks the footsteps of all of those who have come and
gone, compressing time, grime, and memory into an object that acts as a portal into
another space. By placing this “poetic” object at the threshold, Hildebrandt is trans-
porting his audience into an enigmatic memory and cryptic simulation of his home life.
The Talking Heads sang, “Home is where I want to be” on the 1983 album “Speaking
in Tongues”, and the theatre of the domestic interior and the mutability of language and
communication across cultures and time are very much the main themes on display.
Visual patterns from everyday objects offer a glimpse into his home, inspirations,
and personal relationships. They are transformed into positive/negative cassette
tape paintings: a handbag, a blouse, a breakfast-in-bed tray, and a book by Martin
Luther, the Protestant German friar whose translation of the Bible from Latin into
German had an enormous cultural impact in the creation of a standard version of
the German language. Hildebrandt highlights the “spiritual quest for the infinite
along the vertical axis mundi, connecting the earth & the celestial vault”, as formally
articulated by Brancusi in 1918, and in a version of an “endless column” formed
with molded vinyl records that appear to stack like musical warped galaxies.
A quasi-religious Pieta-like photograph of Hildebrand’s head resting in the lap
of his partner, the artist Alicja Kwade, adds to the themes of love, romance, and
security within the sacred home. The fragility of the image, and by extension,
his relationship and all relationships, is heightened as one realizes upon closer
inspection that the single image is held together in a cabinet by, and the sum
of, a multitude of layers of tiny cassette boxes.
Hildebrandt has created another new photograph of an etching by his influential
teacher, Thomas Gruber, from his home art collection paying homage to Marivaux’s
1730 renowned romantic comedy theatre work, “LE JEU DE L’AMOUR ET DU
HASARD” (“The Game of Love and Chance”). By shooting it in the reflection
of one of his Spiegel (Mirror) Paintings and flipping the mirrored image in
Photoshop, the photograph then becomes the invitation poster.
This referential hall of mirrors continues as the black magnetic tape of an unspooled
VHS copy of a performance of Le Jeu de L’Amour et du Hasard is transformed
into an all-enveloping, elegant wall curtain which wraps the entire exhibition space.
The walls of the gallery space are de-activated and re-activated by being made
negative. From this new void, the cassette tape paintings then hang in cut out
sections of the wall and curtain, functioning like windows with a view into the
romantic enigma of domestic life. The audience’s reflection is mirrored in the cur-
tains as they themselves become woven into the fabric and patterns of the drama.
A tightly wound, painstakingly produced cassette tape wheel painting brings
the exhibition literally and figuratively full circle; by chance I discovered the
magnetic tape for recording sound was invented in Germany by Fritz Pfleumer
in 1928, and developed in this fashion. Once again, we pass through a time
portal to Hildebrandt’s heritage.
Hildebrandt’s work is lyrical and poetic, speaking in tongues without making
a sound. Coming by Hazard recites themes of romance and home within
collective memory consciousness connected by chance across generations of
time and space. It is open and inviting: come as you are, or come by hazard,
it may or may not be up to you.
Slater Bradley
Image: “Coming by Hazard”, 2014. Digital pigment print. 55.5 x 74 cm / 21 3/4 x 29 1/8 inches. Courtesy Galerie Perrotin
Press Contact:
Stephanie Poon
stephanie@cdd.com.hk / +852 6209 7957
Opening: Thursday March 12th 2015 from 5pm to 6pm
Galerie Perrotin
50 Connaught Road Central, 17th Floor
Hong Kong
Opening hours: Tuesday - Saturday 11am - 7pm