ART CITIES:Hong Kong-Eau de Cologne

In February 1983, Monika Sprüth opened her first gallery in Cologne, in order to introduce a group of young women artists she organized a series of three exhibitions entitled “Eau de Cologne” (1985, 1987 and 1993). Besides the exhibiting artists, the three issues of “Eau de Cologne” magazine that were published by Monika Sprüth between 1985 and 1989 featured portraits, interviews, conversations and essays with many other contemporary German and American women artists and figures associated with the art world at the time.

By Dimitris Lempesis
Photo: Sprüth Magers Gallery Archive

The exhibition “Eau de Cologne” at HART Hall in Hong Konk,  features five of the artists who participated in the original project in 1985 and who have been represented by Sprüth Magers Gallery ever since: Jenny Holzer, Barbara Kruger, Louise Lawler, Cindy Sherman and Rosemarie Trockel. Holzer’s text-based works, in the form of signs, plaques, and posters, as well as Kruger’s iconic blend of text and image, often presented in stark black and white, challenge viewers with statements about life and society that demand we rethink concepts as essential as truth, power, love, and belief. Trockel likewise investigates cultural codes and social roles, as well as the longstanding hierarchy between craft and fine art that materializes in her vibrant wool paintings. Roles and subversion are equally the domain of Sherman, whose photographs feature the artist in series of identity-bending costumes and situations. Lawler, also through photography, questions the very nature of art objects by examining how their presentation affects their reception and meaning. In addition, this chapter of “Eau de Cologne” includes work by three equally potent artists:  Astrid Klein, Kara Walker and Marlene Dumas, all of whom are closely connected to the project either via their inclusion in past iterations or through their close affirnities with the gallery and the artists above. Astrid Klein has been working since the late 1970s in a broad range of media, creating images that question notions of gender and power structures in society. Her early collages from the late 1970s and 1980s present individual figures and fragments excised from extensive textual and pictorial material from mass media, reduced to a stark black-and- white palette, and they highlight Klein’s ongoing investigation into the confrontational relationship between image and text. An attention to power and control also appears in the work of Kara Walker, whose videos and works on paper have established her as a leading voice in American art today. Walker’s works frequently feature silhouettes of black and white characters in violent, sexual, and even everyday situations, which together scrutinize the institutions, national narratives, and cultural beliefs of the United States as filtered through its painful legacy of slavery. Marlene Dumas’ editions, which are formed of amalgamations of people both known and unknown in the public eye, echo the representational investigations of Cindy Sherman in their examination of how identity intersects with public and private personae. Included in this exhibition are a selection of prints featuring highly recognisable subjects such as the late British singer Amy Winehouse. As in its previous presentations, “Eau de Cologne” clarifies that among the most powerful voices in contemporary art are those of women, who each present compelling messages about the social, political and cultural environments in which we all live. Today, the context for art made by women has improved significantly since the 1980s: more women artists receive attention from arts institutions and collectors and are able to sustain their careers. Yet there are still gaps between the support given to male and female artists, and obstacles to overcome in the effort to include more voices and approaches within contemporary art discourse. This exhibition continues this ongoing discussion, while presenting some of the most formidable art being made today.

Info: HART Hall, H Queen’s, G/F, 80 Queen’s Road Central, Central, Hong Kong, Duration: 26/3-12/4/19, https://thehart.com.hk