Suspense
14 Dec 2013 - 22 Feb 2014
SUSPENSE
Florian Baudrexel, Franziska Furter, Sebastian Hammwöhner, Edit Oderbolz, wiedemann/mettler, Uwe Wittwer
and guest: Richard Hamilton, Jamie Isenstein, Fred Sandback, Al Taylor and Felix Vallotton
14 December 2013 – 22 February 2014
We are delighted to present the group show Suspense with works by artists from the gallery program and some guests. The title of the show refers to Alfred Hitchcock and his remarks on the term "Suspense" made in the interview book "Hitchcock" by François Truffaut. Several times in these interviews Hitchcock explains the notion of suspense: Suspense describes the central strategy to keep a public alert. The viewer receives information, which creates expectations, for example the repeated fading in of a wristwatch on the way to the station to catch a train. Hitchcock distinguishes fiercely between "Suspense" and "Mystery". He has never done a mystery-movie, except maybe once – mystery is an intellectual process like in a who-done-it, but suspense is essentially an emotional process. Hitchcock is interested in the psyche of the persons, in the mechanism and dramaturgy of the story. The public has to be involved into an emotional process. (Alfred Hitchcock, Distinction between "Mystery" and "Suspense", http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Xs111uH9ss)
The notions of suspense described by Hitchcock can’t be followed strictly in the exhibition, as we are dealing with different media: On the one hand the punctual succession of works in an exhibition, on the other hand the chronological structure of a movie. The idea of "Suspense" can only be a guideline for the form of the exhibition and the choice of works. For the plot, the dramaturgy of the show the following catchwords can be mentioned: delusion and truth, moods and absence, information and balance.
A group of works by the American performance artist Jamie Isenstein starts the show. She especially chose for "Suspense" some works from a then current museum exhibition in Portland, Oregon. In the photograph Waxworks she plays with levels of reality by posing amongst the waxworks. With the Intermission Sign she disrupts the flow of the show. The painted frames for inter-titles, Silent film inter-title borders, refer to the age of silent movies. Funny enough, it was the creation of frames of inter-titles that opened up Hitchcock an entry to the film business and got him his first job in the industry.
An important aspect of "Suspense", which resonates in the works by Al Taylor and Edit Oderbolz, are ideas of balance and imbalance. Almost dizziness in the sense of stagger – one is reminded of the movie Vertigo – conveys the sculpture by Edit Oderbolz.
Narrative layers and possible references to cinema are, in addition to the mentioned works by Jamie Isenstein, tangible in two enigmatic overworked photographs by wiedemann/mettler Godot has arrived 1 + 2 and the watercolour by Uwe Wittwer Copse – often a place of a crime scene.
The show also touches on questions of the production of art: How do artists create with their works "Suspense"? One can look at this from different angles: Some works hold because of the way they have been made an immanent fabricated "Suspense", as for example Spannungsbild #9 (Tension Painting #9) by Florian Baudrexel. Some works generate an emotional "Suspense" outside of the work by developing a narrative pattern, a dramaturgy, or by creating a stage for emotions, as for example the drawings from the series Shadow by Franziska Furter or the work Untitled (Jalousie Black) by Sebastian Hammwöhner.
The combination and disposition of the works in the exhibition space generates also suspense. How does the drawing-in-space by Edit Oderbolz relates to the watercolour Copse by Uwe Wittwer or the etching Berlin Interior by Richard Hamilton, which seems to depict a crime scene and reminds one of the movie Rear Window? What kind of tension are the woodcuts Le poker and L'alerte by Félix Vallotton procuring? Which note strikes the flute player?
The exhibition is accomplished through the attentiveness and interest of the viewers. We wish you exciting discoveries, Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!
Biographies:
Florian Baudrexel (*1968 in Munich, lives and works in Berlin) is particularly interested in his sculptures, paintings and collages in the principle of composition – the idea of proportions or relations. In May 2014 we will inaugurate his second solo exhibition in the gallery.
Franziska Furter (*1972 in Zürich, lives and works in Berlin and Basel) often generates through her sculptures and atmospheres and moods, which are picking up events outside of the works, like meteorological events or constellation of landscapes.
Richard Hamilton (*1922 in London, died 2011 in Oxford) was an outstanding English conceptual artist whose distinctive group of works have a great impact on later artistic developments.
Sebastian Hammwöhner (*1974 in Frechen, near Cologne, lives and works in Berlin) draws since 2006 large pastel drawings on black paper, which are mimicking in an astonishing way carpets. A group of overworked jalousies were created in 2011.
Jamie Isenstein (*1975 in Portland, Oregon, lives and works in New York City, NY) uses different media. Often her exhibitions are accompanied by performances.
Edit Oderbolz (*1966 in Stein am Rhein, Switzerland, lives and works in Basel) has a magical ability to combine ready-made-material with subtle touches and therefore achieving new constellations and compositions. In the spring 2014 she will have her second solo show in the gallery.
Al Taylor (*1948 in Springfield, Mass., died 1999 in New York City, NY) was an important, unconventional draftsman and sculptor, who understood, how to transform his immediate
surrounding in poetic works.
wiedemann/mettler (Pascale Wiedemann *1966 and Daniel Mettler *1965, live and work in Zurich) are a great artists couple working together since 2002. They develop in their works in different media, from photography to Hama bead pearls, new worlds and constellations.
Félix Vallotton (*1865 in Lausanne, died 1925 in Paris) was a mysterious painter, draftsman and print-maker, who after a short flirt with the artist group Nabis, went his own ways.
Uwe Wittwer (*1954 in Zurich, lives and works in Zürich) deals in his paintings and ink jets with subjects from art history and images from the Internet – recently he used as source material images from personal and private archives.
Florian Baudrexel, Franziska Furter, Sebastian Hammwöhner, Edit Oderbolz, wiedemann/mettler, Uwe Wittwer
and guest: Richard Hamilton, Jamie Isenstein, Fred Sandback, Al Taylor and Felix Vallotton
14 December 2013 – 22 February 2014
We are delighted to present the group show Suspense with works by artists from the gallery program and some guests. The title of the show refers to Alfred Hitchcock and his remarks on the term "Suspense" made in the interview book "Hitchcock" by François Truffaut. Several times in these interviews Hitchcock explains the notion of suspense: Suspense describes the central strategy to keep a public alert. The viewer receives information, which creates expectations, for example the repeated fading in of a wristwatch on the way to the station to catch a train. Hitchcock distinguishes fiercely between "Suspense" and "Mystery". He has never done a mystery-movie, except maybe once – mystery is an intellectual process like in a who-done-it, but suspense is essentially an emotional process. Hitchcock is interested in the psyche of the persons, in the mechanism and dramaturgy of the story. The public has to be involved into an emotional process. (Alfred Hitchcock, Distinction between "Mystery" and "Suspense", http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Xs111uH9ss)
The notions of suspense described by Hitchcock can’t be followed strictly in the exhibition, as we are dealing with different media: On the one hand the punctual succession of works in an exhibition, on the other hand the chronological structure of a movie. The idea of "Suspense" can only be a guideline for the form of the exhibition and the choice of works. For the plot, the dramaturgy of the show the following catchwords can be mentioned: delusion and truth, moods and absence, information and balance.
A group of works by the American performance artist Jamie Isenstein starts the show. She especially chose for "Suspense" some works from a then current museum exhibition in Portland, Oregon. In the photograph Waxworks she plays with levels of reality by posing amongst the waxworks. With the Intermission Sign she disrupts the flow of the show. The painted frames for inter-titles, Silent film inter-title borders, refer to the age of silent movies. Funny enough, it was the creation of frames of inter-titles that opened up Hitchcock an entry to the film business and got him his first job in the industry.
An important aspect of "Suspense", which resonates in the works by Al Taylor and Edit Oderbolz, are ideas of balance and imbalance. Almost dizziness in the sense of stagger – one is reminded of the movie Vertigo – conveys the sculpture by Edit Oderbolz.
Narrative layers and possible references to cinema are, in addition to the mentioned works by Jamie Isenstein, tangible in two enigmatic overworked photographs by wiedemann/mettler Godot has arrived 1 + 2 and the watercolour by Uwe Wittwer Copse – often a place of a crime scene.
The show also touches on questions of the production of art: How do artists create with their works "Suspense"? One can look at this from different angles: Some works hold because of the way they have been made an immanent fabricated "Suspense", as for example Spannungsbild #9 (Tension Painting #9) by Florian Baudrexel. Some works generate an emotional "Suspense" outside of the work by developing a narrative pattern, a dramaturgy, or by creating a stage for emotions, as for example the drawings from the series Shadow by Franziska Furter or the work Untitled (Jalousie Black) by Sebastian Hammwöhner.
The combination and disposition of the works in the exhibition space generates also suspense. How does the drawing-in-space by Edit Oderbolz relates to the watercolour Copse by Uwe Wittwer or the etching Berlin Interior by Richard Hamilton, which seems to depict a crime scene and reminds one of the movie Rear Window? What kind of tension are the woodcuts Le poker and L'alerte by Félix Vallotton procuring? Which note strikes the flute player?
The exhibition is accomplished through the attentiveness and interest of the viewers. We wish you exciting discoveries, Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!
Biographies:
Florian Baudrexel (*1968 in Munich, lives and works in Berlin) is particularly interested in his sculptures, paintings and collages in the principle of composition – the idea of proportions or relations. In May 2014 we will inaugurate his second solo exhibition in the gallery.
Franziska Furter (*1972 in Zürich, lives and works in Berlin and Basel) often generates through her sculptures and atmospheres and moods, which are picking up events outside of the works, like meteorological events or constellation of landscapes.
Richard Hamilton (*1922 in London, died 2011 in Oxford) was an outstanding English conceptual artist whose distinctive group of works have a great impact on later artistic developments.
Sebastian Hammwöhner (*1974 in Frechen, near Cologne, lives and works in Berlin) draws since 2006 large pastel drawings on black paper, which are mimicking in an astonishing way carpets. A group of overworked jalousies were created in 2011.
Jamie Isenstein (*1975 in Portland, Oregon, lives and works in New York City, NY) uses different media. Often her exhibitions are accompanied by performances.
Edit Oderbolz (*1966 in Stein am Rhein, Switzerland, lives and works in Basel) has a magical ability to combine ready-made-material with subtle touches and therefore achieving new constellations and compositions. In the spring 2014 she will have her second solo show in the gallery.
Al Taylor (*1948 in Springfield, Mass., died 1999 in New York City, NY) was an important, unconventional draftsman and sculptor, who understood, how to transform his immediate
surrounding in poetic works.
wiedemann/mettler (Pascale Wiedemann *1966 and Daniel Mettler *1965, live and work in Zurich) are a great artists couple working together since 2002. They develop in their works in different media, from photography to Hama bead pearls, new worlds and constellations.
Félix Vallotton (*1865 in Lausanne, died 1925 in Paris) was a mysterious painter, draftsman and print-maker, who after a short flirt with the artist group Nabis, went his own ways.
Uwe Wittwer (*1954 in Zurich, lives and works in Zürich) deals in his paintings and ink jets with subjects from art history and images from the Internet – recently he used as source material images from personal and private archives.