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Fenómena 11.08.07 til 22.09.07
Listakonurnar Ásdís Sif Gunnarsdóttir og Rakel Bernie, riðu á vaðið og sýndu á opnunarsýningunni í Gallerí Ágúst sem stóð frá 11. ágúst-22. september. Þær sýndu teikningar, ljósmyndir, myndbandsverk og þrívíð verk.
ENGLISH:
For the opening exhibition of Gallery Agust, Asdis Sif Gunnarsdottir and Rakel Bernie opened their exhibition Fenómena. The exhibition constisted of drawings, photographs, video and three dimensional work.
Text by Mariangela Capuzzo:
Fenómena
* from phenomena/phenomenon; event, marvel, miracle, prodigy, an appearance, something that can be seen, surprising development
The inaugural exhibition at Agust Art Gallery in Reykjavik, Iceland brings together the works of two distinct contemporary artists who, in their exploration of the ordinary, encounter and create the extraordinary. Rakel Bernie and Asdis Sif Gunnarsdottir act as alchemists creating narratives of magical characters and theatrical environments thus seducing the viewer. Thematically, both artists address issues that are traditionally related with the feminine such as fragility, vulnerability and identity. However, in doing so, they playfully transform these notions into tools of empowerment.
Rakel Bernie born in Argentina and working in Miami Beach shares similar sensibilities with Kenyan feminist artist Wangechi Mutu. Both women give rise to complex personalities by employing delicate materials (watercolor, ink and collage on Mylar polyester film) to create images in which translucent beauty of color and surface is combined with hybrid body-types. Whereas Mutu’s images enter the political and grotesque, Bernie’s subjects are mysterious and attractive.
Female creatures seemingly witch-like of unknown origin, dominate the scenario in Rakel’s drawing-collages. Their feline appearances and feathery accents create a seductively threatening reality, questioning the Self and the Other.
These carefully constructed characters, taken from glossy magazines and pieced together, sometimes dressed in corset, wearing training boots and bearing knives, become the artist’s alter ego. By attempting to mask the feminine vulnerability, these attractive charmers re-emerge and thus become the fenómena.
Fragments of Japanese watercolor landscapes serve as settings to these ambiguous yet magical figures. The delicate scenery becomes their protective nests while the artist’s pictorial language becomes a metaphor alluring to the psyche’s fragile nature and uncertain equilibrium. As Rakel states, “I am constantly revising memories and exploring personal anxieties. In the series “Altered States of Flora and Fauna”, the focus is on the illusion that I can create an alternative protective space.”
In the current series "Down by the Water" presented at Agust Art Gallery, Rakel continues to create metaphors that contextualize her mental processes. Her monochromatic organic constructions emerge from soft and dangling materials which she collects from her personal surroundings and creates by the process of weaving, layering and sewing. Like in Eva Hesse’s sculptures, her abstractions often suggest natural forms and human presence in their irregular and anti-architectonic compositions.
These three dimensional "drawings" are process oriented, repetitive,
organic and alive. They develop from a simple weave to form a complex and intertwined organism. Their origins lie in the artist’s observations of nature. Like the obscure and twisted roots of the Florida mangroves, her installations seem to provide shelter and stability. Her obsession with defining her identity and creating a “safe haven” is a constant thread in her work and is manifested by creating these powerful female guardians and theatrically beautiful protective niches.Icelandic performance based artist, Asdis Sif Gunnarsdottir much like American filmmaker and artist, David Lynch, creates beautiful and complex sets to create a physical state of mind. Her video installations and performances explore the feminine psyche with a mix of fantasy, psychodelia, humor and contemporary trash.
Her installations are an excerpt from her cinematic performances. They are filled with random items such as mirrors, ribbons, glitter and many times include projections both on the walls and floor. As she notes, “I feel that there is a constant flow between performance and video art. I often bring performance into my installations, like dress up in the same colors as the work, and just lie on the floor like a ghost while the viewers walk by."
Like a present-day Alice in Wonderland she delves into magical characters and scenarios to transport the viewer into an unknown world of nonsensical tales where innumerable non-events come together to create a world of mystical events - fenómenas.
Her narratives are aesthetically beautiful and emotionally complex. The underlying mood of these “video poems” is captured by the vibrant reds, blues and greens reflected against the dark aura of the Icelandic winter. In “Future Crash I” a medieval like sorcerer, set against a magical landscape, somberly approaches the viewer. An eerie mindscape is set by the screams of the Arctic terns and the constant movement of the wind. As if foreseeing and conveying the inevitable, she captures the viewer instilling a daunting yet magical spell.
On ocassion, she seems to have popped up from a Japanese Manga or from the Scandinavian version of heroine multi-media goddess, Lara Croft. Asdis never drifts out of character and masterfully combines the Nordic sense of melancholia with fantasy and wit as she deals with her refusal of leaving the “girl”.
In “The Performance Call Girl”, for example, every Sunday, since January 2007, Asdis sits by the computer, ready to perform, waiting for someone to call in and request one. As she states, “To me this is a totally new exhibition space. The performances I do each Sunday are different each time and made up that day as a reflection of the mood I'm in, like a video poem. The performance is one-on-one to the audience, and usually only lasts for one or two minutes.”
Her subliminal “movie sets” mask the anxious uncertainty of “growing up”; however, the titles of her works “Future Crash”, “Don’t You want to love her”, “Youth in Control/Kingdom of You”, and “Netscape Oracles” reveal Asdis’ meticulous confrontation with her feelings of vulnerability as she faces the unavoidable reality of coming of age. At that moment, the poetic aspect of the work takes over.
In effect, both artists, although at different stages in their lives, use the “poetic”, through the characters they present in their work, to create a dialogue of themselves and their journey. Without taking a particular stance, they explore the various dimensions of the “woman’s” universe to present a complex and mystical reality.
The theatrical atmosphere with all its props and masks is the ultimate platform where the feminine Fenómena unfolds and manifests itself.
Mariangela Capuzzo, Miami Beach
Independent Curator
