Helen Feifel
23 Sep - 09 Nov 2012
HELEN FEIFEL
23 September - 9 November 2012
In Helen Feifel’s multi-facetted work, attributions to either object or painting are dissolved: Painterly interventions supplement her drawings, objects and photographs, rendering a genre-specific separation impossible.
The hand-coloured photographs form the core of her show. They stand for numerous techniques which she applies in a sophisticated, creative process: The artist partially paints used cardboard boxes and combines them to form costume-like constructions. Worn by persons, they attain a performative character and are then captured in photos. The painterly intervention takes place in the subsequent colouring of the black-and-white pictures. The artist hereby refers to a forgotten art form - the hand-colouring of photos - which she carries out in a meticulously way using special albumen glazing colours. She leaves the body untreated, thus visually setting off the coloured elements. The result is a multi-layered material aesthetic: The cardboard boxes cloaking the bodies are reminiscent of pieces of clothing, so that the photographs appear as depictions of a futuristic fashion show or a stage play. They simultaneously define camouflage objects, behind which the individuals seem to dissolve into abstract shapes. A special effect is evoked by the dimensions of the photographs, which are nearly life-size and therefore create a relationship between the viewer and the human sculpture.
A further form of reshaping found objects is embodied by her ceramic objects which are assembled from fragments of the most various cultural circles, generation and tastes. Merely the visible interior space reveals their origin: One recognizes the bottom of a vase as well as lime traces from the water. The objects tell a story in a subtle way, and the viewer imagines the living spaces of their former owners. The vases which were shattered and reconstructed by the artist form a collage of past worlds placed in a new context. Sources of inspiration are masks of the most various ethnicities, including hand-carved African wooden masks and Shrove Tuesday masks from the Swabian-Alemannic region. Similar to the coloured photographs, the aspect of camouflage and costumes is taken up here and continued on a three-dimensional level.
The exhibition space is additionally redefined by an expansive work. A patterned curtain, which at first sight appears quite ordinary, serves to extend the wall and completely seal off the room except for a narrow passageway. But it is also an object-like canvas, the painted pattern of which forms a self-contained whole only when viewed from a certain vantage point. The spaces between the gathered parts were deliberately omitted, so that the painting would disintegrate into fragments if the curtain were drawn. Helen Feifel’s architectural intervention thus breaks with its traditional function as an interior accessory and plays with our perception.
In her work, Helen Feifel succeeds in conceptually linking fashion, painting, sculpture, and culture, without, however, charging the aesthetics of the individual pieces with pretentious interpretations.
- Anna Schanowski
Helen Feifel (*1983) lives and works in Karlsruhe. She completed her studies as a master student at the Akademie der Bildenden Künste in 2011. She has participated in exhibitions at, among others, the Regionale in Kunsthalle Basel, the Städtischen Galerie Karlsruhe and Terminal P in Zurich. In 2011 she was awarded a grant from the federal state of Baden-Württemberg.
23 September - 9 November 2012
In Helen Feifel’s multi-facetted work, attributions to either object or painting are dissolved: Painterly interventions supplement her drawings, objects and photographs, rendering a genre-specific separation impossible.
The hand-coloured photographs form the core of her show. They stand for numerous techniques which she applies in a sophisticated, creative process: The artist partially paints used cardboard boxes and combines them to form costume-like constructions. Worn by persons, they attain a performative character and are then captured in photos. The painterly intervention takes place in the subsequent colouring of the black-and-white pictures. The artist hereby refers to a forgotten art form - the hand-colouring of photos - which she carries out in a meticulously way using special albumen glazing colours. She leaves the body untreated, thus visually setting off the coloured elements. The result is a multi-layered material aesthetic: The cardboard boxes cloaking the bodies are reminiscent of pieces of clothing, so that the photographs appear as depictions of a futuristic fashion show or a stage play. They simultaneously define camouflage objects, behind which the individuals seem to dissolve into abstract shapes. A special effect is evoked by the dimensions of the photographs, which are nearly life-size and therefore create a relationship between the viewer and the human sculpture.
A further form of reshaping found objects is embodied by her ceramic objects which are assembled from fragments of the most various cultural circles, generation and tastes. Merely the visible interior space reveals their origin: One recognizes the bottom of a vase as well as lime traces from the water. The objects tell a story in a subtle way, and the viewer imagines the living spaces of their former owners. The vases which were shattered and reconstructed by the artist form a collage of past worlds placed in a new context. Sources of inspiration are masks of the most various ethnicities, including hand-carved African wooden masks and Shrove Tuesday masks from the Swabian-Alemannic region. Similar to the coloured photographs, the aspect of camouflage and costumes is taken up here and continued on a three-dimensional level.
The exhibition space is additionally redefined by an expansive work. A patterned curtain, which at first sight appears quite ordinary, serves to extend the wall and completely seal off the room except for a narrow passageway. But it is also an object-like canvas, the painted pattern of which forms a self-contained whole only when viewed from a certain vantage point. The spaces between the gathered parts were deliberately omitted, so that the painting would disintegrate into fragments if the curtain were drawn. Helen Feifel’s architectural intervention thus breaks with its traditional function as an interior accessory and plays with our perception.
In her work, Helen Feifel succeeds in conceptually linking fashion, painting, sculpture, and culture, without, however, charging the aesthetics of the individual pieces with pretentious interpretations.
- Anna Schanowski
Helen Feifel (*1983) lives and works in Karlsruhe. She completed her studies as a master student at the Akademie der Bildenden Künste in 2011. She has participated in exhibitions at, among others, the Regionale in Kunsthalle Basel, the Städtischen Galerie Karlsruhe and Terminal P in Zurich. In 2011 she was awarded a grant from the federal state of Baden-Württemberg.