| Inke Arns on Tue, 25 May 1999 02:09:12 +0200 |
[Date Prev] [Date Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Date Index] [Thread Index]
| Syndicate: Anna Oppermann in NY / 20 June -- 29 August 99 |
Date: Mon, 24 May 1999 18:44:41 -0400 From: ute vorkoeper <[email protected]> PRESS RELEASE Anna Oppermann: 'Being different (Why is she so different?)', 1970-1984 P.S.1, Long Island City, New York June 20 - August 29 Open June 20, P.S.1 Contemporary Art Center presents Anna Oppermann's expansive multi-media 'ensemble' 'Being different (Why is she so different?)', 1970-1984 in its third floor archive gallery. This installation marks the first New York presentation of works by the late German artist (1940-1993), who was celebrated in international exhibitions such as the Venice biennial (1980) and documenta (1977 & 1987), but never exhibited in the United States during her lifetime. Anna Oppermann's chosen term 'ensemble' describes not only the form of her work, but also refers to the process of its construction. The ensembles were created often over many years, growing from ordinary everyday found objects, small still lives, flower or plant leaves, and words or phrases taken from passing conversation. The resulting assemblages led the artist to specific problems, which she approached by adding new observations, comments, and findings. In the ensembles, each step of this artistic process of perception, research, and interpretation is documented and constantly rearranged. Oppermann declared 'from the personal to the general' as a main tendency in her visual thought process. Over 60 large works by Anna Oppermann remain - assembled from hundreds of little pieces based on themes such as 'being a woman', 'being an artist,' 'being different,' 'love, eroticism, sex,' as well the thematic areas 'oil on canvas', 'myth and enlightenment' or the 'economical aspect' (of making art). 'Being different (Why is she so different?)', 1970-1980 is not a self-portrait, nor does it describe otherness as an identifiable trait. Instead, this ensemble tells about the experiences of dissociation, revealing otherness as something hidden, undiscovered, and impossible to find. A central motif in the work is a sitting woman, whose face remains obscured by her own hair. The figure is simultaneously hiding and left out. Paradoxically, she hides something to avoid being accepted without managing to avoid acceptance. The ambivalence of this gesture runs through the whole ensemble, which unfolds and communicates the interrelationship between isolation and deprivation. One of the first large ensembles created by Oppermann and exhibited publicly, 'Being different' was first shown in 1972 in the Hamburg Kunsthalle, and was last shown fully assembled in 1986. This presentation of the work at P.S. 1 will not only introduce Oppermann's work to the American public, but also make this important ensemble from her early oeuvre accessible for the first time in thirteen years. The new installation of 'Being different (Why is she so different?' is organized and curated by Ute Vorkoeper and Herbert Hossmann. The exhibition is presented in cooperation with the Goethe-Institute New York / German Cultural Center. Further informations: P.S.1 Contemporary Art Center 22-25 Jackson Ave at 46th Ave Long Island City, New York 11101 phone: 718-7842084 / fax: 718-4829454 / e-mail: [email protected] Goethe-Institut New York Program Coordinator 1014 Fifth Avenue New York, NY 10028 Tel: 212.439.8682 Fax: 212.439.8705 e-mail: [email protected] ------Syndicate mailinglist-------------------- Syndicate network for media culture and media art information and archive: http://www.v2.nl/syndicate to unsubscribe, write to <[email protected]> in the body of the msg: unsubscribe [email protected]