Anne Wenzel
12 Oct - 16 Nov 2013
ANNE WENZEL
Damaged Goods
12 October - 16 November 2013
Since 2000, Anne Wenzel has beenbuilding an oeuvre of ceramics; she is in search of metaphors that unmask “the heroic” behind symbols of violence and power. With her new sculptures, Wenzel deconstructs this symbolism.
In this exhibition, her second one at AKINCI, Anne Wenzel presents two new groups of work:
Damaged Goodsand Attempted Decadence (blossoms), in which Wenzel gives the classic bust and traditional floral bouquet a new place. Here Wenzel links together tradition and imminent urgency. It was Ernst Friedrich’s book, ‘Krieg dem Krieg’, which appeared after the First World War and was intended as a pacifist book pointing out the horrors that wars bring about, which inspired the busts. Wenzel has given the theme of violence a new place in her recent work. She chose a series of busts of historic generals and faces of contemporary politicians and bankers - tired, old men - whose faces show how they allow power to fuse with the evil they are accused of instigating. Through this exhibition, Wenzel explores the fine limits of the predictable and creatable.
Her work over the past few years reveals a distinction between the sculptures, and groups of sculptures, of people and animals and the landscapes in which there is a complete lack of living beings. When looking at the sculptures of people and animals, we reflect upon the horror of the event itself. In contrast, the apocalyptic landscapes show the results of the action rather than the action itself. As such they refer to the past and show the calm after the storm. In her new series of work, Wenzel focuses more on the language that lurks behind the heroism of war memorials. Her sculptures are often described as modern-day Vanitas sculptures that relate stories of past glory, decadence and general demise. However, what Wenzel does, precisely, is to unmask the monument and, through the medium of clay, which she uses unconventionally and without regard to national borders, show that all ideologies and even personifications of power display identical stylistic and linguistic characteristics.
Wenzel (1972 Schlüttorf, Germany) studied at the Academy for Visual Arts in Enschede. Solo shows: TENT Rotterdam (2014) curated by Daria de Beauvais, Galerie Suzanne Tarasieve, Paris (2014), Villa Roth, Germany (2010), Museum Boijmans van Beuningen, Rotterdam (2010), AKINCI, Amsterdam (2009), Stedelijk Museum Den Bosch (2008), Kunstevereniging Diepenheim (2007), Buro Leeuwarden (2006), The Agency, London (2006). Wenzel participated in group exhibitions at Boijmans van Beuningen, Rotterdam (Collection Presentation 2013), Stedelijk Museum ’s Hertogenbosch (Collection presentation 2013), Stedelijk Museum Schiedam (Collection Presentation 2013), Sign of the times, Carré St-Anne, Montpellier, curator: Richard Leydier (2013), Into the Woods, La Galerie des Galeries, curator: Daria de Beauvais Paris, FR, Fondation Ricard, Paris (2011), Shepparton Art Gallery (award) (2010), Municipal Museum of Contemporary Art, Ghent (2008) and Museum Boijmans van Beuningen, Rotterdam (2007).
Damaged Goods
12 October - 16 November 2013
Since 2000, Anne Wenzel has beenbuilding an oeuvre of ceramics; she is in search of metaphors that unmask “the heroic” behind symbols of violence and power. With her new sculptures, Wenzel deconstructs this symbolism.
In this exhibition, her second one at AKINCI, Anne Wenzel presents two new groups of work:
Damaged Goodsand Attempted Decadence (blossoms), in which Wenzel gives the classic bust and traditional floral bouquet a new place. Here Wenzel links together tradition and imminent urgency. It was Ernst Friedrich’s book, ‘Krieg dem Krieg’, which appeared after the First World War and was intended as a pacifist book pointing out the horrors that wars bring about, which inspired the busts. Wenzel has given the theme of violence a new place in her recent work. She chose a series of busts of historic generals and faces of contemporary politicians and bankers - tired, old men - whose faces show how they allow power to fuse with the evil they are accused of instigating. Through this exhibition, Wenzel explores the fine limits of the predictable and creatable.
Her work over the past few years reveals a distinction between the sculptures, and groups of sculptures, of people and animals and the landscapes in which there is a complete lack of living beings. When looking at the sculptures of people and animals, we reflect upon the horror of the event itself. In contrast, the apocalyptic landscapes show the results of the action rather than the action itself. As such they refer to the past and show the calm after the storm. In her new series of work, Wenzel focuses more on the language that lurks behind the heroism of war memorials. Her sculptures are often described as modern-day Vanitas sculptures that relate stories of past glory, decadence and general demise. However, what Wenzel does, precisely, is to unmask the monument and, through the medium of clay, which she uses unconventionally and without regard to national borders, show that all ideologies and even personifications of power display identical stylistic and linguistic characteristics.
Wenzel (1972 Schlüttorf, Germany) studied at the Academy for Visual Arts in Enschede. Solo shows: TENT Rotterdam (2014) curated by Daria de Beauvais, Galerie Suzanne Tarasieve, Paris (2014), Villa Roth, Germany (2010), Museum Boijmans van Beuningen, Rotterdam (2010), AKINCI, Amsterdam (2009), Stedelijk Museum Den Bosch (2008), Kunstevereniging Diepenheim (2007), Buro Leeuwarden (2006), The Agency, London (2006). Wenzel participated in group exhibitions at Boijmans van Beuningen, Rotterdam (Collection Presentation 2013), Stedelijk Museum ’s Hertogenbosch (Collection presentation 2013), Stedelijk Museum Schiedam (Collection Presentation 2013), Sign of the times, Carré St-Anne, Montpellier, curator: Richard Leydier (2013), Into the Woods, La Galerie des Galeries, curator: Daria de Beauvais Paris, FR, Fondation Ricard, Paris (2011), Shepparton Art Gallery (award) (2010), Municipal Museum of Contemporary Art, Ghent (2008) and Museum Boijmans van Beuningen, Rotterdam (2007).