2013/14 - LISTE 18 | The young art fair in Basel

Andersen0/10/6Christian Andersen Høkerboderne 17–19DK-1712 CopenhagenT +45 32 95 92 35M +45 25 37 41 01info@christianandersen.netwww.christianandersen.netSolo Show at LISTE:Rolf Nowotny, 1978, DKOther Artists of the Gallery:Benjamin Bernt, DKLina Viste Grønli, NOLasse Schmidt Hansen, DKMorten Skrøder Lund, DKPind, DKAstrid Svangren, SE(top left)Rolf NowotnyDeaf Parent, 2013Powder coated steellined with feltø 75 cm(top right)Rolf NowotnyHow Can I Sleep,2013Installation viewRolf NowotnyHow can I sleep,2013Installation view54 / 55In his art, Rolf Nowotny deliberateson the divisions that human thought haspro jected into the outside world formillennia. Distinctions between subjectand object, agency and passivity havebeen crucial for humans to legitimize theirbehaviour in the world. In a traditionalworldview the human occupies thedominant position of a vertical hierarchyplacing the acting subject at the topand the passive objects of the outside worldat its bottom. Nowotny, however,seeks a more horizontal understanding ofthe world. An understanding thattranscends these traditional borders whilequestioning their solidity.His recent works have presentedthemselves as felt-lined circles that extendinto the exhibition space, concrete basins,angles in steel and aluminium. Thereis a formal rigor that can lead the thoughtstowards minimalism and conceptual art.But there is somehow too much movementand too many stories surrounding theart works. They are provided with strikinglyexpressive titles that contrast thestringency of the form: A wire bound to ametal rod is called ‘Lovesong’, the feltlinedcircles are called ‘Deaf Parent’ and theexhibitions carry dramatic titles suchas ‘sex’, ‘Full Frontal Nudity’ and ‘How CanI Sleep’. The formal seriousness of theart is contrasted by playful, provocative,even talkative titles.Meetings and exchanges occur crisscrossingboundaries between intellect andsenses, materials and thoughts: Betweenabstract and concrete, subject and object.The categories are outlined, but neverfixed. On the contrary, they are kept in motionin art works whose insistent materialityencourages the accumulation of meaning.It is an art in which the artist takesa step back and permits that, which hastraditionally been regarded as passiveobjects, to contribute to the constructionof meaning of the works with the uniquepossibilities and limitations the particularmaterials offer. An art that lingers in thespace between veiling and unveiling itself.Torsten Bøgh Thomsen, 2013