VisualArt Drawing strength
As a major exhibition of Rosemarie Trockel’s work comes to Talbot Rice, Talitha Kotzé talks to the gallery’s curator about the work of the influential German artist ‘Vorstudie (Preliminary Study)’
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Rosemarie Trockel’s creative output is as diverse as it is prolific. In earlier years she teamed up with fellow feminist voices in Cologne to establish a counter to the strong machismo of the day, and emerged on the global stage with artists such as Jenny Holzer, Barbara Kruger and Cindy Sherman. She continues to engage with the intricate social and political web that is the art system, questioning its codes and unpicking gender stereotypes.
Talbot Rice is showcasing a large-scale exhibition of her works entitled Drawings, Collages and Book Drafts, one of only three venues for this touring show. Curator Pat Fisher explains that some years ago she and Trockel worked with Kunstmuseum Bonn on a project about German abstract painter, Blinky Palermo, and since then have kept in touch. ‘I was delighted a few years ago to be asked by the director to be the only British venue for the three-venue Trockel show.’
While contemporary art practice has put ‘preparatory’ drawing on equal footing to the old conventions of fully resolved oil paintings – predominantly directed by male artists – Trockel’s practice employs methods of unresolved uncertainty to deliberately undermine authoritative systems. In recent years collage has become an enabling tool for her to combine aspects of her multifaceted practice, which includes photography, film, sculpture and installation. Her book drafts declare works-in- progress, rather than finished objects, serving as placeholders for future ideas. ‘Trockel is an important artist on a number of fronts,’ says Fisher of her own attraction to the artist’s
‘IT IS IN HER DRAWINGS THAT
THE STORY IS REALLY TOLD’
work. ‘She has an important feminist voice that is realised in her art with great psychological vision and unnerving imagery. While she is known for her knitted sculpture – where she played with materiality and female hobby – to my mind it is in her drawings that the story is really told.’ Trockel does not work at a distance. She has been a key presence in selecting the works and categories that characterise her oeuvre, as well as making new works especially for this exhibition. Fisher explains that the project is taking place in academic collaboration with both the History of Art department at Edinburgh University as well as the National Galleries of Scotland and their August Sander show which opens next month, and points out: ‘Where Sander charted the German nation, Trockel explores a collective mind and imagery that is unsure and uneasy.’ Talking about the works on show, Fisher says: ‘There are so many amazing pieces – there are her “vibration” drawings with multiple lines creating an odd visual double-take. For me perhaps one of the most memorable is a particularly arresting drawing of a baby with skeleton hands. The soft, plump form of the baby ending in pointed bones is visually arresting and upsetting.’
This collection of works are almost like the CAT scans of private thoughts, snap shots of that moment in which a thought or idea is conceived, executed by means of an ever searching series of investigative mark making. Rosemarie Trockel, Talbot Rice Gallery, Edinburgh, Sat 29 Jan–Sat 30 Apr.
✽✽ Stansfield/Hooykaas: Revealing the Invisible Retrospective of work by the Scottish/Dutch artistic partnership, who first met at art school in London in 1966. CCA, Glasgow, until Sat 29 Jan. ✽✽ Childish Things: Fantasy and Ferocity in Recent Art Last chance to catch this subversive tribute to toys and childhood imagery featuring work by Jeff Koons, Susan Hillier and Louise Bourgeois. Fruitmarket Gallery, Edinburgh, until Sun 23 Jan. ✽✽ Tacita Dean A splice of German and British cultures in this powerfully poetic show from the Turner-nominated artist. The Common Guild, Glasgow, until Sat 5 Feb. ✽✽ Marc Camille Chaimowicz New and historical work by the groundbreaking installation and performance artist. See review, page 81. Inverleith House, Royal Botanic Gardens, Edinburgh, until Sun 6 Feb. ✽✽ Jonathan Horowitz: Minimalist Works from the Holocaust Museum The provocative US artist serves up a witty, colourful response to latter-day holocausts – religious, sexual, ecological, governmental and artistic. See review, page 81. Dundee Contemporary Arts, until Sat 20 Feb. ✽✽ Living Today Group exhibition whose work explores aspects of the society they live in. See picture caption, page 82. Glasgow School of Art, until Sat 5 Mar. ✽✽ Rosemarie Trockel The only UK showing for this major exhibition featuring nearly 200 drawings, collages and book drafts by the highly regarded German artist. See preview, left. Talbot Rice Gallery, Edinburgh, Sat 29 Jan–Sat 30 Apr. 20 Jan–3 Feb 2011 THE LIST 81