Evelyne Axell
La Terre est ronde
April 9 – June 13, 2011

Tal R
The elephant behind the clown
April 9 – June 13, 2011

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A key figure in Belgian pop art, Evelyne Axell (1935-1972) is among  
the artists whose work is just emerging from the shadow cast by male  
pop heroes for reassessment. Axell experimented with various  
contemporary materials, combining plexiglas with enamel, with  
synthetic fur, foils, etc. to create substantively and visually  
seductive pictures. Her unusual material aesthetics combines mass- 
produced materials previously in advertising and industry rather than  
in the arts, which to some extent required considerable manual  
crafting. The principal figures are usually women, often nude and not  
infrequently representing the artist -sometimes as a direct self- 
portrait, sometimes indirectly, where she posed for photos that  
provided the basis for her paintings. Her art thus revolves around her  
own person and the image of woman, and lays claim to an impetus for  
liberation. The self-chosen nudity affirms the pinup, rendering it a  
positive expression of female sexuality and self-determination. This  
is also the theme of the exhibition at the Kunstverein, which shows a  
selection of later works from her very brief artistic career.  
Influenced by the 1960s and the social and political events of that  
period, her works penetrate taboo zones, compensating a new freedom  
that escapes all constraints imposed by the role of home-maker and by  
the stylisation of woman as the object of male desire. As an  
institution for contemporary art, it is the task of the Kunstverein  
not only to show young art but also to place current art in its  
historical context, particularly in cases where what we consider an  
important position has long been neglected by general art  
historiography. For her time, Axell treated materials with remarkable  
freedom and had addressed feminist topics even before the advent of  
feminism. In times when the self-image is determined externally by  
advertising and other medial representations, her policy of self  
preoccupation is of enduring relevance.

Works—whether collages, drawings, or paintings—by the Israeli-Danish  
artist Tal R (*1967, lives in Copenhagen) are characterized by the  
sheer quantity of elements and meanings they present. His complex  
visual worlds are composed of innumerable abstract forms together with  
representational figures in a balanced relationship, so that the chaos  
the many colours and forms could be expected to produce is kept at  
bay. The pictures are structured in keeping with an inner logic and  
make a light and carefree impression. The artist describes it as “wild  
minimalism without Puritanism”. The graphic compositions unite  
cultural references from foreign cultures, myths, and our everyday  
world, and open up a broad spectrum of interpretation. Not everything  
can be learned in detail, much is merely hinted at and points in  
various directions. In recent works, for example, motifs from the  
circus, the theatre, or oriental tales repeatedly appear. Places and  
situations are associated with the dream worlds of earliest childhood,  
which give much scope for one's own fantasy and for playing with  
identities. The Kunstverein Hamburg is presenting the some 20 works in  
a newly erected pavilion on the first floor. This creates a “space in  
space” situation for the circa 2.50 m x 2.50 m canvases, which  
intensifies the meeting with the works. The artificially reduced space  
imposes a closer encounter than would take place in the full space of  
the exhibition rooms. Confrontation with the over dimensioned formats  
cannot be avoided. Presenting the works so closely side-by-side  
produces a vortex that captivates viewers, releasing them only when  
all puzzles have been prospected and mazes explored.
The exhibition is funded by Danish Arts Council. The exhibition is  
also accompanied by a catalogue published by Snoeck with an interview  
between Tal R and Florian Waldvogel..

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Further information and printable press material can be found under: www.kunstverein.de/presse 
. Username: media, Password: kvhh

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Der Kunstverein, seit 1817.
Beate Anspach
Presse und Öffentlichkeit
Klosterwall 23
20095 Hamburg
Tel. +49(0)40 32 21 58
Fax +49(0)40 32 21 59
www.kunstverein.de