The method of depiction varies from rough to fine, abstract to representational, painterly to plastic. The wealth of materials here seems to know no bounds: gold leaf, white gold, ink, poster paints, oil chalks, pastels, pencil, and feathers dyed black. From the very beginning of her artistic production Voigt worked with the principles of variation, repetition and transformation. In the series Now, exhibited in the rooms of Galerie Klüser, it is possible to rediscover earlier parameters, but other elements are entirely new, like the “Splash”: a pattern of ink thrown onto the paper, which Voigt labels “Relief”. This highly concentrated explosion of colour is surrounded by a delicate circle of pastels, which the artist identifies as “Expectation”. Since 2012, the prime question examined in Voigt’s works has been, what do inner images consist of? The human imagination is always characterized by two poles: collective and archetypal images, and individual experiences. In the works shown we can find a large number of pictorial ideas with which to form our own, very personal chains of association, as in the case of the series Hauro. These works on paper can be seen, together with the feather works, in the exhibition rooms of Galerie Klüser 2. For the Hauro-Series Voigt took the character Hauro (Howl) from the Japanese anime film “Howl’s Moving Castle” by Hayao Miyazaki from the year 2004 as inspiration to create new pictorial worlds. The far-eastern aesthetics are discernible, as well as some details from the film: pastel shades, layers of lotus-flower leaves, and billowing balls of fire. But these are only references to, not illustrations of the Howl legend. Voigt’s derived images take on organic and amorphous traits, which retain their vitality in the eye of the viewer. The pitch-black feather works Synchronicity create the effect of foaming waves, bubbling lava, fish scales or heavy leather covers. The structures are concentrated, they swallow all the light. Voigt already studied the motif of flying in her early drawings, e.g. in Constellation Algorithm Eagle Flight. Whereas in 2007 Voigt investigated possible eagle flightpaths in the air, in this group of works she is referring to the history of art. The black works with wings followed on from gilt intarsia pieces. In those works Voigt examined classical depictions of angels’ wings like those to be found in Pietro Cavallini’s frescoes “The Last Judgement” in Rome, dating from 1293. The mosaics of the seraphim uncovered in the Hagia Sophia in 2009 were also a source for Voigt. Afterwards, the artist filtered out the structure of the angels’ wings and translated this system of rules into her own pictorial language. Endless feathery patterns spread out in all directions on the paper, along a possible “shoulder line”. When regarding Voigt’s works one feels a great compulsion to decipher them. While her early “scores” were based on a strict, comprehensible system of notation, the current works can be interpreted more freely. They are works which confront us with images that are difficult to categorize clearly. They fluctuate between different poles: past and present, limitation and freedom, collectivity and individuality, concentration and openness. The exhibition NOW invites the viewer to engage with these conditions, in the here and now. For at every moment – from every standpoint – Voigt’s lively, iridescent picture surfaces create a different effect. Jorinde Voigt (born in Frankfurt a. M. in 1977) has been awarded the Dahlmann Prize (2015) and the Daniel & Florance Guerlain Contemporary Drawing Prize (2012). Works by the artist, who lives in Berlin, are represented in the collections of the Centre Pompidou Paris and the Museum of Modern Art New York. Jorinde Voigt is currently presenting her most extensive solo exhibitions to date at the Kunsthalle Krems and The Baker Museum Artis-Naples.
Lisa Sintermann
