installation view THE VANISHING Galerie im Stammelbach-Speicher, Hildesheim, (D) solo show Parapluie (Tavares + Monnier) (19.5 - 16.6.2024) The Vanishing, an introduction (extract) by Florian P. Fischer (BBK Hannover, D) The exhibition deals with the contrast between disappearance and bringing into appearance, ambiguity, the before and behind, the hidden behind the visible. In a preliminary discussion, Gianluca said: “Every work is a sentence in a story we have been telling for many years. We never asked for a theme. We work with what we see and find. There is probably a theme in the background.” Let's see if we can approach the theme today. I was surprised that this thematically dense and profound exhibition makes do with such a sparing use of materials. Andrée and Gianluca work with found objects. Many of the exhibits come from extensive research at flea markets. For example, the 19 wedding photos were found at flea markets in Germany, Belgium, France, and the Netherlands. One could speak of ready-mades. I also had the impression of a connection to conceptual art and Arte Povera. One of the conceptual principles of Arte Povera was to bridge the gap between life and art through the use of everyday materials. Andrée and Gianluca define the use of everyday materials in their own way. The found objects are not just everyday materials but items of use. They bear the traces of human usage. The found objects are collected and questioned about their history. This raises the question of memory. What is false and what is true? What do the ready-mades reveal after going through the "mediumistic process" (as Duchamp said) in the hands of the artists? White - Bra Installation A few dozen bras frozen in plaster are the opposite of sensual; they look like bones. The "No Bra" movement was already part of the women's movement around 1968. The bra was considered a symbol of patriarchal oppression. With public bra burnings, women demanded the availability of the pill, the abolition of §218, equal pay for equal work, and an end to male dominance. Vanished 19 wedding photos, bought by Andrée and Gianluca at flea markets in four different European countries, framed behind glass. They are old photos, possibly 50 or 100 years old. The wedding photo with the bride in a white dress always follows the same cliché. It shows a newlywed couple seemingly on their way to the wedding night. The bride in the white dress with a veil appears pure and virginal. Soon it's off to bed to conceive the heir. The wedding photo is one of the essential family documents. But something is wrong here. The image of the bride has been scratched with a sharp object so that the person is no longer recognizable. Here we have an even more radical intervention on the theme of "The Vanishing." The woman disappears with marriage. The individuality of the women in the pictures is obliterated. The bride is only a placeholder. What remains is the impression of "bridalness." The artists' intervention forces us to think about the fundamental reality behind the cliché.

Two Young Women in Bikinis

They could have come from the cover of a men's magazine from the 1950s, and maybe they did. The image has a history; what does it remind us of? The image of the woman is black and white, but the picture itself is not. The background has been overpainted in chamois; only the woman is important. This brings the figure to the forefront. The picture with the woman is simultaneously erotic, formally successful, and a reminiscence of Pop Art.

 

Holes - Two Montages with Four Building Silhouettes and Four by Nine Golden Sponges, and Four Building Silhouettes with Four by Six Silver Sponges

These are the facades of four Hildesheim buildings destroyed in World War II, which were rebuilt after the war (e.g., Knochenhauer Amtshaus, Templerhaus). In the 1950s, the community was actively involved in the discussion. They wanted to maintain the old town center's layout during reconstruction. The facades are traced as gray areas (or scratched into the photos in the other montage) to indicate that they deal with the gaps created by the war. The gold and silver of the sponges stand for wealth, for the beautiful appearance, for the power of investors and developers. The sponge stands for housework and erasing. Did we erase the memory? Is the faithful reconstruction a concession to backward-looking design ideas? One sees the four abstracted facades, and behind them lies the question of the causes of destruction. The impression of Disneyland promotes tourism, as seen in the new development of Frankfurt's Römerberg. The counterposition is to leave a destroyed building as a memorial for future generations, like the ruin of the Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church in Berlin, whose bell tower remained standing next to the new building. These montages could also stand for the theme of the exhibition: The Vanishing.

 

 

Florian P. Fischer (BBK Hannover, D), 19.5.2024