„Limbo Holding Inc. – Batiken mit Gerhard Richter“ and „Nucleus“. These two exhibitions took place at once @ produzenten I galerie Dresden, Germany, April- May 2019. The first one is a conceptual, the second one an exhibition of expressive painting. Both interplaying and functioning like a symbolic image.

Both exhibitions depict an area of conflict between traditional values- the existential and humanist implications of figurative painting and the conceptual approach of a more or less market- fundamentalist mindset  of our late capitalist epoch.
Leaving its traces in conceptual depletion of traditional values in the Fine Arts through the formal principle of deception and disappointment, most of the renowned artists today who produce art in that way are backed up by the participants of the highly speculative art market that started to grow in the 1970s as one of the results of the abandonment of the gold standard and the easy money- policy by the USA. This happening marked the gate into abasement of almost each and every traditional idea of value. From that point on, today‘s market-fundamentalism developed, transforming all values into „narrations“ (as Robert Shiller points out in his theory of „Narrative Economics“) thus also effecting our ethical, cultural and social values.

As a reflection of today‘s global politics that is mostly driven by corporations, the “Winner Artists“ (Wolfhang Ullrich) are producers, marketeers, investors and profiteers of their own art in one person, using the bourgeois structures and vocabulary of the art world as money-driven tools to bring forward their careers to become so called „blue-chip artists“. They are those who can do whatever they want – even if it does not contribute to any measurable or comprehensible artistic value, but to speculative tactics of the finance capitalism, tax fraud and corruption. In other words: The high-priced, famous contemporary art is mostly not about art but about personal relations and about money- and therefor it more and more becomes some kind of a mysterious global investment and holding – system for the upper 5%.

It is obvious now why most of these `artworks´ are just objects that look somehow like art to cover their true purpose- because they still need to be presented in the public museums around the globe to hold or increase their monetary value. But they do not even have to be based on new original ideas: You could put some random paint behind glass panes or tie-dye some sheets of cotton. The only question is: is there a concept that is capable of satisfying the demand on this global art market and- even more important: Does the artist have access to this elitist club?

Nevertheless art- as we still call this stuff- is the symbolic `mirror of its time‘, and the metaphorical parallel to `real life´. Therefore the combination of these two representations of seemingly opposing worldviews in one exhibition context, raises questions of revaluation of traditional values and their symbols or representations at the turning point of history; it also raises questions about perception, information, and the concepts of truth and identity, both individually and collectively that became visible in the Fine Arts through the research on art and society by Pierre Bourdieu.

The two-in-one exhibition also contrasts the qualities of both artistic approaches, thus giving both of them the possibility to exist equally in an artist‘s oevre based on their specific characteristics, content and usage.

April-May 2019


For an interview (german language) with the art historian Dr. Wolfgang Ullrich click here:

PANDEMIE DES NICHTS
Interview with Simon Rosenthal
and Dr. Wolfgang Ullrich

Download PDF ⤓





EXHIBITION VIEWS:

Photographs by Pierre Willscheck


Background: „Mixing Colors / Euroscale“, 2019. Front: „What was there first: duck or egg?“, 2019. Right side back: „I ❤️ some old masters 4 U + put them into 👌 frames“, 2019. Right side: „Mixing colors (being colorful is not just a priviledge of gay people and minorities)“, 2019


„Mixing Colors/ Euroscale“, 5 panels, CMYK+W, á 100×250 cm, tie-dyeing color in cotton, 2019



Front: „What was there first: duck or egg?“, 4 origami sculptures, various sizes: „Duckling“ (small), „Duck“ (medium), „Giant Duck“ (big) „Egg“ (small in showcase). Newspaper, resin, glue, glass, wood, gluetape, tie- dyed cotton, nato-wire. All 2019.


Dieses Bild hat ein leeres Alt-Attribut. Der Dateiname ist IMG_5068-1-399x600.jpg

Series „What was there first: duck or egg?“, 4 origami sculptures: „Egg“ in nest in showcase, around 60x 40x 40 cm, newspaper, tie-dyed cotton and nato-wire, 2019


Dieses Bild hat ein leeres Alt-Attribut. Der Dateiname ist IMG_5067-400x600.jpg

Series „What was there first: duck or egg?“, 4 origami sculptures: „“Duckling“ 79x 40x 40 cm, newspaper, 2019



„I ❤️ some old masters 4 U + put them into 👌 frames, 3x #davinci“, reproductions of
old master´s drawings on historical printing paper, cut-out, 50×40 cm each (framed),
2019



„I ❤️ some old masters 4 U + put them into 👌 frames, #davinci“, reproduction of an
old master´s drawing on historical printing paper, cut-out, 50×40 cm,
2019



„I ❤️ some old masters 4 U + put them into 👌 frames, #raphael #holbein“, reproductions of
old master´s drawings on historical printing paper, cut-out, 50×40 cm, 2019



Right side: „Mixed Colors (being colorful is not just a priviledge of gay people and minorities)“, tie-dyeing color in cotton, 250×250 cm, 2019



„Mixed Colors (being colorful is not just a priviledge of gay people and minorities)“, tie-dyeing color in cotton, 250×250 cm, 2019



Left side: „The impossibility of a revolution caused by art“, 105×105 cm and 40×30 cm, Wood, hammer, line, wire, nato-wire, tie-dyed cotton, reflective gluetape, eyelets, 2019.
Left side middle: „Cluster“, 250x 150 cm, wax, tie-dyeing color in cotton, 2019.
Left side back: „Potential“, 210x 8x 8 cm, tie-dyed cotton.
Middle back: „Hiking altar / all you´ve got to jnow / where are we?“ 120x 120x 9 cm, blackbordcolor, chalk on wood, 7 seals, 2019.
Right side back: „Zip in- Zip out“, 250x 150 cm, EU-Flag and White Flag, zip, eyelets, 2019 (Entrance to „Nucleus“) 
Above: „Shattered hopes“, various size, nato-wire, tie-dyed cotton, 2019
Right side (wall): „Tie-Dyes with Gerhard Richter I and II“, 40x 50 cm, tie-dyeing color on cotton and silk.
Front (Lying): „Arbitrium f., m., h.“, antique showcases, each around 60x 50 cm, childrens t-shirts, tie-dyeing color, 2019



„The impossibility of a revolution caused by art“, 105×105 cm and 40×30 cm, wood, hammer, line, wire, nato-wire, tie-dyed cotton, reflective glue tape, eyelets, 2019


„Cluster“, 250x 150 cm, wax, tie-dyeing color in cotton, 2019


„Potential“, 210x 8x 8 cm, tie-dyed cotton, 2019



„Hiking Altar / all you´ve got to know / where are we?“ 120x 120x 9 cm, chalk on blackbordcolor on wood, 7 seals, 2019



„Hiking altar / all you´ve got to know / where are we?“ (closed) 120x 60x 9 cm,
chalk on blackbordcolor, on wood, 7 seals, 2019



Top: „Shattered hopes“, various size, nato-wire, tie-dyed cotton, 2019
Underneath: „Zip in- Zip out“, 250x 150 cm, EU-Flag and White Flag, zip, eyelets, 2019
(Entrance to „Nucleus“)


Entrance to „Nucleus“



Series: „Phantásien (the sickness of the Childlike Empress)“, various sizes, oil on canvas, 2019



Series: „Phantásien (the sickness of the Childlike Empress)“, various sizes, oil on canvas, 2019


Series: „Phantásien (the sickness of the Childlike Empress)“ „Freiheit (Freedom)“
60x 50 cm, oil on canvas, 2018



Series: „Phantásien (the sickness of the Childlike Empress)“ „Wartezimmer (Waiting Room)“
40x 30 cm, oil on canvas, 2019



Series: „Phantásien (the sickness of the Childlike Empress)“ „Orientierung (Orientation)“
40x 30 cm, oil on canvas, 2019



Series: „Phantásien (the sickness of the Childlike Empress)“ „Agonie (Agony)“
60x 50 cm, oil on canvas, 2019



Series: „Phantásien (the sickness of the Childlike Empress)“ „An der Quelle (At the source)“
40x 30 cm, oil on canvas, 2018



Series: „Phantásien (the sickness of the Childlike Empress)“ „Ausweg (Exit)“ 50x 40 cm, oil on canvas, 2018




Phantásien (the sickness of the Childlike Empress)“ „Gemeinsamkeit (Common Ground)“,
60x 50 cm, oil on canvas, 2019



„Tie-Dyes with Gerhard Richter I and II“, each 40x 50 cm, wax tie-dyeing in silk and cotton, 2019



„Tie-Dyes with Gerhard Richter I and II“, each 40x 50 cm, wax tie-dyeing in silk and cotton, 2019



Top: „Requiem for the freedom of art“, Din A4, print on paper, 2019
Front: „Arbitrium f., m., h.“, antique butterfly-showcases, around 60x 50 cm each, childrens t-shirts, tie-dyeing color, 2019



Series: „Rorschach olive, red, yellow“, each 60x 70 cm (framed), acrylic on paper




Series: „Rorschach olive, red, yellow“, each 60x 70 cm (framed), acrylic on paper



„Requiem for the freedom of art“, DinA4, print on paper, 2019




„Requiem for the freedom of art“, DinA4, print on paper, 2019