Alexandra Leykauf
09 Sep - 15 Oct 2011
ALEXANDRA LEYKAUF
9 September - 15 October, 2011
Martin van Zomeren is pleased to present Alexandra Leykauf’s fourth solo exhibition at the gallery.
The presentation consists of six sculptures, each based on photographs depicting glass cabinets in different museums (Kunstgewerbemuseum Berlin and Germanisches Nationalmuseum Nürnberg).
The photographs were taken from all four sides of free-standing showcases, always focussing
on the background, i.e. on the interior of the exhibition space as seen through two screens of glass. The objects on display are commodities of the past, objects of historical value, which may have lost their meaning to the contemporary viewer.
The glass cabinets are rebuild in their original dimensions in a light construction of wood and the photographs are reproduced as black and white prints replacing the glass of the showcases. By using the most simple means the constructions are distanced from the notion
of the precious that is inherent to any display in a museum. They constitute anchor points around which the exhibition spaces are wrapped.
The viewer of the installation is at an impossible position, not only because he finds himself
between a variety of rooms within different buildings, but also because he is always on the other side of the glass.
The empty center of the display cases as constituted by applied arts of the past, finds its counterpart in the absence of the viewer.
Alexandra Leykauf (b. 1976, Germany) lives and works in Berlin.
Recent presentations include Walden Affairs, The Hague, and ‘Based in Berlin’ in KW, Berlin (2011); Kunst Museum Bonn, ‘Rehabilitation’ in WIELS, Brussels and ‘Chateau de Bagatelle’ in Musée d’Art Moderne de la ville de Paris, Paris (2010). Public collections include Centre Pompidou and Musée d’Art moderne de la ville de Paris, among others.
9 September - 15 October, 2011
Martin van Zomeren is pleased to present Alexandra Leykauf’s fourth solo exhibition at the gallery.
The presentation consists of six sculptures, each based on photographs depicting glass cabinets in different museums (Kunstgewerbemuseum Berlin and Germanisches Nationalmuseum Nürnberg).
The photographs were taken from all four sides of free-standing showcases, always focussing
on the background, i.e. on the interior of the exhibition space as seen through two screens of glass. The objects on display are commodities of the past, objects of historical value, which may have lost their meaning to the contemporary viewer.
The glass cabinets are rebuild in their original dimensions in a light construction of wood and the photographs are reproduced as black and white prints replacing the glass of the showcases. By using the most simple means the constructions are distanced from the notion
of the precious that is inherent to any display in a museum. They constitute anchor points around which the exhibition spaces are wrapped.
The viewer of the installation is at an impossible position, not only because he finds himself
between a variety of rooms within different buildings, but also because he is always on the other side of the glass.
The empty center of the display cases as constituted by applied arts of the past, finds its counterpart in the absence of the viewer.
Alexandra Leykauf (b. 1976, Germany) lives and works in Berlin.
Recent presentations include Walden Affairs, The Hague, and ‘Based in Berlin’ in KW, Berlin (2011); Kunst Museum Bonn, ‘Rehabilitation’ in WIELS, Brussels and ‘Chateau de Bagatelle’ in Musée d’Art Moderne de la ville de Paris, Paris (2010). Public collections include Centre Pompidou and Musée d’Art moderne de la ville de Paris, among others.