Britta Rettberg is pleased to present a series of new works for Patrick Ostrowsky’s second comprehensive solo exhibition. The first series called “reliefs”, are smaller sized paintings made of re-used wooden floor panels over which numerous layers of materials collide, such as epoxy, cement or pigment. These materials are poured over the small box-framed support structure which in turn create a semi-translucent abstract painting/sculpture. The second group of works, also wall-based, are called “almsboxes” which feel and look more like small cabinets, mailboxes or other closable containers. Some of them let one peak inside, some of them have perforated metal sheets covering up the surface, while others yet are sealed with a plexiglass, holding an amalgam of objects and debris enclosed. The third series of works consists of a family of six, larger-than-life floor-based sculptures entitled „Structures of Existence“. Skeleton metal outlines in the form of cell/boxes assume an air of a virtual shrine. They can also be read as some sort of time travel apparatus, where a normal sized human can step into. More than that though, they are each unique in what they hold within their frames. Some have wooden or acrylic paneling integrated, others have ceramic objects sitting atop shelves, then again others have light fixtures integrated, while another set of the cells integrate ready-mades such as basketball hoop or candles, an iPhone or some coins. The eye cannot help to skip from house-hold items, everyday object to more abstract elements, like washes of paint, inscriptions, painterly surfaces or ceramic figurines that act as candleholders.
A common trait of all works in the exhibition is that they all tell tales: of experiences, deja-vus and personal touches, without actually portraying a specific persona. They touch upon a shared experience of the past and now but more so they induce a poetic dance between figurative and abstract moments, they ask about the where and now and poke in the end at one’s ability to self-reflect. What do these objects mean to you, who left them here, what do they behold. The act of wanting to find out more, being curious or wanting to uncover the hidden story behind all these objects lays at the core of this installation. What makes this dialogue refreshing is that we are not only looking at left behind, used objects but that we are constantly also triggered by small artistic interventions which immediately pull us out of a more didactic way of reading things, our inquisitive search for a version of truth is regularly interrupted by a moment of lamentation over an artistic vase there, or a painting here. An outer frame begging to examine the inner one. A marveling forth and back, between micro and macro between art and life.
Samuel Leuenberger is a freelance curator, curator of the Parcours sector of Art Basel and the Fondation Beyeler Basel as well as founder and director of SALTS, a non-profit exhibition space in Birsfelden, CH.
