Franck Scurti What is Public Sculpture?
«Lothar Hempel»
www.artforum.com, New York, 13 mars 2007
The layers of Lothar Hempel's dense artworks are indeed manifold, with references
to ideologies, music, theater, Greek tragedy, politics, and historical eras adding
up to one uniquely complex world. Curated by Florence Derieux, the artist's first
large-scale retrospective presents more than sixty pieces, including new work
made specially for the exhibition. The show follows less of a chronological protocol
than a thematic one, with drawings, videos, sculptures, installations, pictures,
and collages sorted according to the miscellaneous methodology of many of the
works themselves. In the first room, the viewer is greeted by Vorwärts (Forward),
2006, comprising an old, large, black-and-white photograph of a woman with an
umbrella mounted on a metal horse of Indian origin. This assemblage is a good
example of how Hempel stitches together different media and questions. As the
exhibition unfolds, it becomes clear that Hempel's universe is a flexible one,
with the potential to expand endlessly via a complex circuit of references and
cross-fertilizations. Many of the works recall surreal stage sets, exploring
and amplifying spatial tropes of flatness and depth. Der Kompass Spielt Verrückt
(The Compass Goes Crazy), 2006, features another photograph of a lady with an
umbrella, this one freestanding behind a wooden frame while steel, bronze, and
aluminum rings arranged on the floor weave a narrative of confusion, complexity,
and perfectionism. Here, Hempel's multifaceted body of work is brought together
in an unironic yet humorous, seamless yet scattered, theatrical whole.
Power Ekroth