Work by Thorsten Brinkmann
Old furniture, bulky items, articles found in flea markets, but also discarded everyday objects, form the basis of the material used by the artist to create scenarios with photographs, sculptures, installations and videos. Thorsten Brinkmann's works, exhibited at KUNSTAGENTEN, depict a clearly performative character. In order to create the arrangements the artist is an actor, director, stage technician and cameraman all at the same time. He transforms everyday scenes into theatrical settings. Miscellaneous objet trouvés and objects of daily use, such as a vase, the upper section of a hairdryer, a dented bucket or the mouldy teeth of an animal are placed in a stage-like installation and become part of a new dramaturgy.
The artist plays competently and ironically with art historical contexts and combines both classical and contemporary art traditions. The tradition of 17th century still life painting, Duchamp´s readymades and Dadaism inspired him to make Studio Blossom, and he experiments with a reinterpretation and new combination of this particular art historical background.
Objects “grow“ and “bloom“ in his studio like studio blossoms, and their forms remind us of important icons in art history. The titles of the works develop like images of a collage made up of different combinations and transformations, such as a sound poem by Kurt Schwitters. In this way, The Redstellark can be viewed as a formal approach to Frank Stella, while Arprialuga focuses on Hans Arp´s vocabulary.
The exhibition title Studio Blossom at the same time refers to the fragility of the composition of the objects. The “peak” or moment of blossoming in the combination of the perspective, objects and background is brief and for Brinkmann can only be realised using the medium of photography. However, the objects themselves outlast these particular settings and able to blossom again in a next still life. § Works by Thorsten Brinkmann (born in 1971 in Herne) will be on show as part of the Twinism, an exhibition that commemorates 20 years of the city partnership between Hamburg and Osaka. Twinism, curated by Claus Mewes, director of Kunsthaus Hamburg, will be opened on May 11th, 2009 at Kunsthaus Hamburg and on June 6th, 2009 at the AD&A Gallery in Osaka. The exhibition includes works by Peter Piller, Masumasa Morimura and Jonathan Meese, among others.
