Katrin Sigurdardottir
16 Jan - 23 Feb 2008
KATRIN SIGURDARDOTTIR
"Coulisse"
01.16.08 - 02.23.08
Katrin Sigurdardóttir’s solo show at Galeria Leme consists of one monumental work, which employs the full 1.600 square feet of the gallery, a building by the renowned Brazilian architect Paulo Mendes da Rocha.
With Coulisse, Sigurdardóttir continues her studies of the implications of extreme scale relations. This time, though, it is not the scenery, but the audience that is dwarfed next to the imposing height of the installation.
This piece, like many of her previous works, employs concepts, methods and structures borrowed from the world of theater. Full-size scenographic flats, depicting an unidentified mountainous landscape, are stacked up to form a gigantic pyre. The viewer not only faces the spectacular illusion of the scenic painting, but also an austere structure that makes this illusion tangible.
Galeria Leme is thus transformed into a warped coulisse, a stage without the necessary counterpart of the auditorium. It draws attention to the viewer as performer, the one who comes from the back-stage and the one that is doomed to the perceptive depth of flat panels.
Katrin Sigurdardottir was born in Reykjavik, Iceland, in 1967. She lives in New York and Reykjavik. Her most recent solo exhibitions include PS1Contemporary Art Center, in New York, Fonds Régional d'Art Contemporain de Bourgogne in France and Gallerí i8 in Reykjavík. Upcoming shows include a public commission at Harvard University, USA, Modem - Space for Contemporary Art, Berlín and SMAK, Museum of Contemporary Art, Ghent, Belgium.
"Coulisse"
01.16.08 - 02.23.08
Katrin Sigurdardóttir’s solo show at Galeria Leme consists of one monumental work, which employs the full 1.600 square feet of the gallery, a building by the renowned Brazilian architect Paulo Mendes da Rocha.
With Coulisse, Sigurdardóttir continues her studies of the implications of extreme scale relations. This time, though, it is not the scenery, but the audience that is dwarfed next to the imposing height of the installation.
This piece, like many of her previous works, employs concepts, methods and structures borrowed from the world of theater. Full-size scenographic flats, depicting an unidentified mountainous landscape, are stacked up to form a gigantic pyre. The viewer not only faces the spectacular illusion of the scenic painting, but also an austere structure that makes this illusion tangible.
Galeria Leme is thus transformed into a warped coulisse, a stage without the necessary counterpart of the auditorium. It draws attention to the viewer as performer, the one who comes from the back-stage and the one that is doomed to the perceptive depth of flat panels.
Katrin Sigurdardottir was born in Reykjavik, Iceland, in 1967. She lives in New York and Reykjavik. Her most recent solo exhibitions include PS1Contemporary Art Center, in New York, Fonds Régional d'Art Contemporain de Bourgogne in France and Gallerí i8 in Reykjavík. Upcoming shows include a public commission at Harvard University, USA, Modem - Space for Contemporary Art, Berlín and SMAK, Museum of Contemporary Art, Ghent, Belgium.