Munich; Haus der Kunst; opening Ellen Gallagher “AxME”
by Venetia Kapernekas
28.2-13.07.2014
A most amazing exhibition opened at Haus der Kunst of Ellen Gallagher organized by Tate Modern in association with Sara Hilden Art Museum Tampere and Haus der Kunst, Munich.
A lovely dialogue conversation with the artist and Dr Ulrich Wilmes.
photos@vk
…..Ellen Gallagher took the New York art world by storm in the early 1990s with a series of beautifully balanced, deceptively minimalist paintings such as “Oh! Susanna” (1993), “Oogaboogah”, and “Pinocchio Theory” (both 1994). In a series of work she used advertisements for wigs and other commodities as well as feature articles from black-oriented magazines like Ebony, Our World, Black Stars, etc. One of her most intriguing works consists of a grid of twenty female wig models of various skin shades set against a vast white background. The wigs are meticulously cut into elaborate shapes and float on paper as if embossed.(HdK press release)
In the catalogue essay on the exhibition “Ellen Gallagher – AxME”, Ulrich Wilmes writes about the cornerstones of the artist’s visual language. The “yellow paintings”, made between 2001 and 2004, illustrate her source of inspiration, which also influenced other works.
VK 