Yvonne Roeb, New Works
Galerie Wilma Tolksdorf, Frankfurt
Galerie Wilma Tolksdorf, Frankfurt
Throught April 14, 2012
Galerie Wilma Tolksdorf
Galerie Wilma Tolksdorf presents recent works by Yvonne Roeb created last year during her residency in New York which was supported by the Stiftung Kunstfonds. The sculptor assimilates collective images from everyday life, cultural history, mysticism, religion and dream in a surreal way. She deals with first questions and last things and often makes references to the history of art. In her works one will always meet persecuted, transformed, morphological beings or bodies trying to merge together but who at the same time are stuck in an inner struggle or even exert subtle aggression.
The artwork "Acephalous" (headless) consists of two parrots grown together at the most important part of their body like Siamese twins. Both of them are missing the head which is known to be the centre of wisdom, the control of actions and the origin of the mind. This fact makes the adnate animals immobile in most instances. The parrot imitates the human language similar to an echo. Since the parrot never understands the meaning of sounds he makes, he symbolises the vanity of the human beings.
For the sculpture "FEMALE" the artist has searched the models of ancient Greece for idealised images of man and by merging two faces, she mates man and woman into one being. In "Helix" a snake and a braid are combined to a symbolic circle in a graceful dance-like movement. This image reminds also of the cycle of eat and be eaten. In the assemblage "Next I noticed it was spring" the fingertips of a human hand are extending into space as tentacles of a marine animal. In its dynamic the extremities remind of the feminine and twinkle-toed legs of the can-can dancers. The birds of the sculpture "13" are presented as an accumulation lying on skin-coloured leather. Seen as a kill and reminding us of exuberant meals the birds on the one hand stand for opulence and luxury. On the other hand one might think the birds are sleeping - they have kept their tenderness and vulnerability.
In her artwork "Retable" Yvonne Roeb analyses the connection between art and liturgy and questions the function and the usage of images. After the 11th century retable has become one of the most essential scenes for Christian art. Its rearward panels contain varnished and vivid image creations of Occidental history. Yvonne Roeb leaves her Retable entirely without any images. Only the usability and the form allow conclusions regarding the history. The consensus of the essential has to be elaborated by the viewer. The panel looks like it has been made centuries ago, but obviously it was never finished or the images have vanished with years passing by. The plates become projection screens for the imagination of the viewer. But at the same time they emphasize their claim for autonomy.
YVONNE ROEB was born 1976 in Frankfurt/Main, she now lives and works in Berlin. She has studied at the Academy of Fine Arts Münster under Timm Ulrichs and was master student under Katharina Fritsch. The artist’s previous solo exhibitions were also at the Wilma Tolksdorf’s gallery.
