ART CITIES: Beijing-Tobias Rehberger

Tobias Rehberger challenges conventional notions of art with his confounding objects and environments. “The bottom line, to put it very basically’, he says, ‘is … what is art anyway?” This question reinforces his diverse artistic style and exploratory practices, which interrogate the ways in which art is created, presented, and interpreted. Rehberger was awarded the Golden Lion Award for best artist at the 53rd Venice Biennale in 2009.

By Efi Michalarou
Photo: Galleria Continua Archive

The exhibition “I Am Me (Except when I Pretend I Am Her)” focuses on the concepts of identity and mirroring, to the point of blending two elements. The works presented in the gallery spaces play on the relationship between two bodies, how they interact and come together as one, and the meaning of this relationship. The show presents a wide range of works, including one monumental Siamese lighthouse titled “the same difference is a tragedy and a joke as well”, specially made for the show at Galleria Continua, Beijing. The duality of the works permeates all the exhibited series, from the Siamese lighthouse to the dazzle pattern kitchen on the ground floor, and the dazzled bar on the top floor of the gallery. “If you are one of two twins and you look at each other, you know it’s her face. But then, you pretend it’s you.” In the same way, the intertwined lighthouses in the main room of the gallery are one and identical, but they are projecting two separate films at the same time. The projections crawl around like ghosts, more like thoughts that pass by than images to look at or stare at. Sometimes sharp and brilliant for a moment, sometimes vague and blurry, almost like images from the past, Rehberger’s projections are sliding by in the present.” Two sculptures from the “Mother Without Child” series; “Hysteric Mother Without Child“ and “Deadpan Mother Without Child” are on view on the second floor of the gallery. Tobias Rehberger’s works explore the relationship between two elements and how they merge as one, as well as how one person blends with others and what that relationship entails. Due to the pandemic, we are now hosting a soft opening of the exhibition “I am me, (except when I pretend I am her)”.

Tobias Rehberger is one of the most influential and successful German artists of his generation. He was born in 1966 in Esslingen, Germany and attended the Städelschule in Frankfurt/Main before he started working as an artist in the early nineties. With his various forms of artistic output: sculptures, industrial objects and handcrafted articles, he explores the wider sphere of structural design and architecture, thriving on chance connections and unexpected encounters. The concept of transformation is the central theme of his art. Rehberger focuses his energies on the process of perception and of awareness, temporality and the sense of transience, discontinuity and ambiguity. Spanning immersive rooms, towering sculptures, site-specific installations, and paintings, Rehberger’s works mine the disciplinary fields of architecture, design, and art. Rather than focusing on a specific mode of artistic production, Rehberger emphasises the understanding viewers have of the art object in relation to its surroundings. Using LED lights, glass globes, pixelated tableaux, or watercolour in his works, Rehberger brings mundane objects into new contexts to tackle concepts of transformation, perception, and awareness. Rehberger’s work crosses dichotomous boundaries to undermine structures and definitions of what art really is. Dazzle designs are a recurring theme in Rehberger’s work. The concept of ‘dazzle camouflage’ was a tactic used during the First World War to make it difficult for soldiers to pinpoint a target. The theory of ‘dazzle painting’ was first introduced in 1914 by the scientist John Graham Kerr, who found that this disruptive technique did not make the ships blend into their surroundings like traditional camouflage, but distorted them in such a way that it made it difficult to track the course they were travelling on. Rehberger uses this distinct visual technique in immersive settings and site-specific installations. The contrasting curves and lines break up the shape and outline of the objects, creating an optical distortion. In 2014, Rehberger covered the 1918 HMS President, one of the last three surviving warships of its kind, with a ‘dazzle camouflage’ print. Rehberger brings this contemporary visual experience to different environments as well, such as cafés and bars. He uses a black-and-white colour palette, sometimes interspersed with bursts of colour, and a repeated geometric pattern to cover these everyday spaces with the striking all-over effect and to play tricks on the eye. The viewer is forced to question the ways in which they interact with, and experience, their world. These environments, often reminiscent of 1960s and 70s design, do not need to be confined to the museum or gallery space, giving them a type of accessibility that also challenges the status of the art object in an age of commoditisation.

Rehberger’s ‘Vase Portraits’ or ‘Porträtgefäße’ are part of an ongoing series that explores the boundaries between the utilitarian and the decorative. For his first round of ‘portraits’, Rehberger created vases from materials such as glass, ceramic, and 3D-printed aluminium, and requested friends and other artists to pick out flowers for the vases without having seen them first. Each vase and floral arrangement represented the aesthetic and personal preferences of these individuals, becoming a ‘portrait’ of each person. This tongue-in-cheek approach to the traditional still life painting allows Rehberger to transform a utilitarian object into a non-functional artwork, investigating the idea of the art object within a new context. Other sculptures explore Rehberger’s interest in both the aesthetic and functional qualities of art. As part of his ongoing ‘Infection’ project, he utilises practical materials such as Velcro and cable to create dynamic sculptures that move fluidly between industrial objects and sculpture. His installations have been included in both the 50th and the 53rd Venice Biennales. In 2009 he won the Golden Lion for best artist for his sculptural installation at the cafeteria of the Venice Biennale.

Photo: Tobias Rehbergerm, your inside in me, 2022, wood, stainless steel, mixed material, 254 x 314 x 504 cm, 100 x 123.62 x 198.42 in, Courtesy: the artist and GALLERIA CONTINUA Photo by: Dong Lin

Info: Galleria Continua, #8503, Dashanzi 798 Art Factory, 2 Jiuxianqiao Road, Chaoyang Dst., Beijing, China, Duration: 26/6/2022-6/1/2023, Days & Hours: Tue-Sun 11:00-18:00, www.galleriacontinua.com/