Dvir

Sarah Ortmeyer

04 Jan - 15 Feb 2014

© Sarah Ortmeyer
GRANDMASTER I-XII, WORLD CHAMPION I–IX: Inkjet printer ink, paper, red powder blush, 2014; KISH KUSH: Marble, onyx, 2014; MAGNUS MAGNET: Chess magazines, cardboard, linen, one star ping pong balls, 2014, exhibition view
SARAH ORTMEYER
KISH KUSH
4 January – 15 February 2014

KISH KUSH is the last installment of a trilogy of exhibitions Sarah Ortmeyer has shown over the past two years.

Lining the gallery walls are 21 large scale prints, blushing portraits of the most successful international female chess players, making love to the camera (GRANDMASTER I–XII, WORLD CHAMPION I–IX). On the floor stand 6 sculptures made from discarded trade magazines and ping pong balls, ogling the players on the wall (MAGNUS MAGNET I-VI).
They are surrounded by 416 marble and onyx chess figurines of diverse sizes (KISH KUSH) that are reminiscent of fans encroaching on the space and on the exhibits.

KISH KUSH takes various elements from the exhibitions at the SMAK (Ghent, Belgium) and Haus Wittgenstein (Vienna, Austria) and recombines them, culminating in a spatial installation that encompasses the spirit of chess, sportsmanship, shame and the cult of victory:

KISH KUSH
Marble, onyx.

WORLD CHAMPION I – IX; GRANDMASTER I – XII
Inkjet printer ink, paper, red powder blush.

MAGNUS MAGNET I – VI
Chess magazines, cardboard, linen, one star ping pong balls.

GRANDMASTERS WORLD CHAMPIONS, an artist publication produced by the SMAK Museum for Contemporary Art (Ghent) is available for viewing upon request.

Sarah Ortmeyer (b.1980) is a graduate of Städelschule, Frankfurt and lives in Vienna. Her work has been exhibited at institutions worldwide, most recently at Palais de Tokyo (Paris); Museum of Modern Art (Warsaw); MAK Center (Los Angeles); Gesellschaft für aktuelle Kunst (Bremen) and KW Institute for Contemporary Art (Berlin).

She has published on a range of subjects, such as: Chess and Working Class (Springer, Vienna); The Chasing of Shiloh Jolie–Pitt as a Boy (Cura, Rome); The Wittgenstein House (Gruner + Jahr, Hamburg) and Volvo Car Repair (Verlag der Buchhandlung Walther König, Cologne).
 

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