B160411181931 002

Margaret

Thomas Grünfeld

日期
11.04.2016 | 28.05.2016
画廊
London

Massimo De Carlo is pleased to present Margaret , a new exhibition by the German artist Thomas Grünfeld.

The dynamic world of Thomas Grünfeld expresses itself through mixed media, which include sculpture, taxidermy, photography, felt-collages and installations. The artist aims to generate mixed feelings in the viewer, by playing with the subtle boundary that divides what appears recognisable and what is artificial. Margaret presents Grünfeld’s renowned body of work, such as his strange taxidermy figures, the uncanny objects of the upholstery series and the metaphysical Eye Paintings.

ForMargaret the gallery is transformed into an eerie mock-up of domestic ambiance. The first room will be filled by Thomas Grünfeld’s signature mustard colour series of Polsters (Upholstery Objects) – that he first made for a show at Massimo De Carlo in Milan in 1988: half design objects, half cushions, these works trick the viewer into thinking they are functional, shifting between familiar and unfamiliar, usable and unusable.

The yellow mustard shade of the foam sculptures that, as Grünfeld puts it “is something you would associate with a granny’s house but at the same time now it could be fashionable” – enhances the surreal Twin Peaks atmosphere of the room (Margaret is the name of the iconic “Log-Lady”) and hints to British interior design as it includes in each cushion a “fireplace”. The unsettling environment is heightened by the piles of wooden logs that lay in these fireplaces: the absence of a real fireplace and the inserting of the logs in a semi domestic setting plays with the notion of simple and complex, absurd and logical, realistic and fictional.

Intricately sewn together taxidermy animal hybrids that the artist has long called misfits, are scattered around the various rooms of the exhibition, giving the viewer the evil eye and guarding the pieces in the show. These strange pets, which originate in part from Thomas Grünfeld’s interest in German folkloristic tradition, seem to be there to remind us that the artist’s practice, although it appears rational at first glance, is completely rooted in the irrational and in the exploration of absurdity.

The exhibition is structured as a progressive detour into the realm of the artificial, where the viewer’s perception of reality is challenged and mystified. In the basement, the sleek oval shaped Egg Paintings, a homage to Lucio Fontana, paired with the optical and visual challenge (as if they are watching you) of the “Eyes” enhance the aura of a surreal daze around Grünfeld’s practice. Walking around Margaret makes you feel like you have found yourself in someone’s house when they are not home: familiar and unfamiliar, subdued and exciting, reassuring and unnerving.

Thomas Grünfeld

托马斯·格伦菲尔德 (THOMAS GRÜNFELD) 1956年生于德国奥普拉登,目前工作生活于科隆。


格伦菲尔格的整体创作定位于熟悉与陌生、自然与非自然、真实与似是而非之间,从而使作品被置于看似可识别与未知之间的顶峰。这种风格下,不真实存在的动物相互杂交,毛毡作品成为了无需作画的绘画。


格伦菲尔德以其《Misfits》系列而闻名,这是由动物标本制成的雕塑,源自北欧的珍奇屋 (Wunderkammer) 传统与德国本土文化。然而,格伦菲尔德的动物颠覆了标本剥制术代表性的科学本质,而是展现了虚构的生物,引起了真实与想象、善与恶的谚语般战争。毛毡作品凸显了艺术家理解特定图像(通常是风景与常用物品)的能力,不用绘画,而是使用传统材料(毛毡)和20世纪视觉艺术中常见的“剪贴”技巧,以富有想象力的、绘画的要诀对它们加以修改。

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