Lutz Bacher
Saturday, 16 November 2013
Lutz Bacher
Work from “Black Beauty” at the Institute of Contemporary Art, London.
“Since the beginning of her career in the 1970s, Bacher has drawn upon disconnected information from popular culture and her own life, producing works that play with the interchangeability of identity, sexuality and the human body. Bacher uses images and objects in a physical, sometimes visceral manner, conducting arrangements of seemingly disparate entities and allowing them to interact in new ways. The artist’s expansive work explores human identity as it is defined through gender, sexuality and the human body. Lutz Bacher is as elusive as her work is ambiguous, perhaps preferring not to dictate how her works should be viewed.
The exhibition at the ICA will present new and recent works which combine striking installations with film, sound and sculpture. At the core of the exhibition will be Black Beauty(2012), several tons of coal slag which will flow throughout the lower gallery. This piece will be paired with a sound work, Puck (2012) which will envelope the viewer as they move through the space. The audio recording of the character Puck at the conclusion of Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream is repeated with different emphases and pronunciations. In addition Angels (2013), a found broken mirror, will be reconfigured and placed within Black Beauty. Black Magic (2013) is a new site specific work made from black vibrating ‘astroturf’ that will be displayed along the full length of the concourse in the lower gallery.
The entrance to the upper galleries will feature It’s Golden (2013), a new work made from iridescent gold mylar. Accompanying this will be Chess (2012) and the sound piece Elvis(2009), a looped audio work featuring Elvis Presley crooning in the background. Bacher’s interpretation of narratives is further explored in the new installation Horse Shadow (2010-12) which will slowly rotate, casting shadows across the gallery walls. This will be paired withHorse Painting (2010).
The enigmatic and eclectic mixture of ideas that Bacher brings together are full of personal and philosophical significance and are frequently driven by tactical humour.” – ICA London