Opening: 6. March 2015, 19h Exhibition Duration: 7. March – 4. April 2015
The project Characters and Figures by Eva Schlegel and the exhibition Translated by Maha Malluh are not only to be understood as a dialogue but also as a cultural exchange of two artists of global relevance.
With her photographs artist Eva Schlegel has created abstract spaces. Printed on hand-made paper (Hahnemühle) the photographs all seem to be floating in their frame, which seems to reinforce their markedly blurry appearance. The form remains with a new content, and in this disrupted legibility the images lose their close-to-life concreteness but this way they also develop a strangely unreal presence. The abstract, almost white spaces that lead the gaze to the back with the deliberate blurredness seem to create a special space. The simulated space thus becomes not only softer but also larger.
In the series shown here there are also two further spaces. One is a snowy landscape that seems to be burning. It is actually a sunrise but the rising sun gives the impression that the horizon has been set on fire. This shot also gives space for the imagination with its precise blurredness. In the exhibition one also finds a portrait that blends with the spaces yet with the curtain motif it also deliberately addresses the space before and behind it. The strong color accentuation resulting from the burning is taken up on the lower part of the dress, connecting the works.
“Characters and Figures“ is a continuation of the blurred women. For years Eva Schlegel has been producing portraits in which the contours seem to dissolve. Also these images are more than life-size, giving space for imagination and prompting the viewers to lose their way in them.
