Kunstverein Nürnberg

MANUELA LEINHOß
Women Food and God
4 Junе - 7 August 2016

The Kunstverein Nürnberg – Albrecht Dürer Gesellschaft is pleased to present the first comprehensive, institutional solo exhibition by Manuela Leinhoß (*1973 in Meerane, Germany, lives near Cologne).

In her works, Manuela Leinhoß addresses the possibilities of sculpture to preserve memories and narratives in abstract forms. Thereby her interest in literature and language plays a central role. During their development process, the works are often accompanied by poems and literary texts that deal with existential questions of human life. Similarly, Leinhoß’s works bring together thoughts and gestures from observed reality, allowing them to be experienced as autonomous signifiers. Their size is tellingly in relation to the dimensions of the human body, and the works’ many parts evoke the objects and tools that are at its disposal. As such, however, they have no specific function, becoming instead fictional objects that convey the perception of proximity and distance, alienation and intimacy in our everyday environment.

At Kunstverein Nürnberg, Leinhoß presents a selection of existing and newly created works, which take the stage as confident protagonists, in dialogue with one another to reveal shifting attributions of identity. Together with their titles, the works point to moments of self-reflection between development, convention and limitation, as described, for example, in Patricia Highsmith’s novel Carol (1952), in Sylvia Plath’s poem The Arrival of the Bee Box (1962) and in Lucy Lippard’s biography Eva Hesse (1976). The exhibition title, WOMEN FOOD AND GOD, also recalls the human desire to continuously develop one’s personality and the search for emotional support. With this line Leinhoß reflects the ambivalent experiences of women and motherhood in our society, where demands surrounding work and private life, health and productivity often inscribe themselves on the body through attitudes towards food and nourishment. In her works, the artist gives expression to the awareness that the soul and the body are today more than ever a conflictridden arena negotiating between psychology and spirituality, science and philosophy, and marked by constant aspirations for change and optimization.

With her works Leinhoß develops a corresponding arrangement at Kunstverein Nürnberg that focuses on the potential of an “internal” flexibility and the reciprocal relationship between imagination and embodied action. Her sculptures elude common classifications to instead gather independent models in the space, transporting us in ways both imaginary and analytical to our own realm of experiences.

Manuela Leinhoß (b. 1973 in Meerane, Germany) lives near Cologne. At the University of Cologne she has studied philosophy and philology before turning to fine art. In the last years she has presented her works in solo exhibitions as in Like a Human Being at gallery Raeber von Stenglin, Zurich (2013), in V e r t i e f e n at gallery Micky Schubert, Berlin (2010) or in Roadmaps And Diaries at the Liste Art Fair, Basel, 2008. Besides she was represented in international group exhibition as e.g. in Can’t Hug Every Cat at Kunstraum Kreuzberg/Bethanien, Berlin (2015), in FEVER THREAD at 1857, Oslo, Norway (2014), in Utopie beginnt im Kleinen, Triennale Kleinplastik, Fellbach (2013), in The Berlin Box at CCA Andratx, Spain (2010) or in Rooms look back at Kunsthalle Basel (2008).

In parallel with Manuela Leinhoß’ solo show, the Kunstverein Nürnberg is presenting the exhibition Matador by Elif Saydam (b. 1985 Calgary, Canada).