Zilla Leutenegger, Valentin Carron

"DOPPEL" 8 Valentin Carron and Zilla Leutenegger


Opening 7 - 9 p.m. on Friday, March 1st, 2002
Exhibition March 2nd - April 13th 2002
Opening hours Wed. - Fri. 1 - 7 p.m., Sat. 1 - 6 p.m.



As the 8th in the series of double exhibitions, Gallerie Kamm presents the Swiss artists Valentin Carron (*1977) and Zilla Leutenegger (*1968). The verification of identity is crucial as well in the installations by Carron as in the videos by Leutenegger.

Valentin Carron's installation apparently consists of a 140 x 70cm marble plate that is tilted in space, supported only by a branch. The material is artificial, however: Both plate and branch are made of synthetic material, painted to look deceptively real. To create this illusion, Valentin Carron has commissioned craftsmen from his native Valois. Characteristic for his work is that it always involves his origin, traditions and native district. In this respect he challenges the post-conceptual artistic discourse which, simultaneously, is to be found in his work. Formally, he draws on the strategies of pop art, presenting the everyday object as sculpture, and quotes the preferred materials of arte povera, yet combining them in ways reminiscent of magic symbolism. The objects, stone and branch, point directly to his origin, namely that of Valois. By reconstructing materials from his native district, he verifies them, and thereby himself, a new.

Zilla Leutenegger shows her video drawings "odds for tonight" that are dealing with sleep. The studies consist partly of animated drawings, partly of video images that have been reduced to drawings. The series unfolds the facets of sleep: In one study, movement is minimal, the person being in a deep, calm sleep, the duvet merely rising and falling slowly, whereas the person seems haunted by restless dreams in another study. In the projected version the spectator sees white lines on a black background blending into the wall. Zilla Leutenegger continues the projected lines by drawing them directly onto the wall, hence underlining the positioning of the sleeping person in space. The spectator observes sleep and dream, invading a space of intimacy and privacy, in itself a dream, a mirror of the world of inner images. Zilla Leutenegger preoccupies herself with familiar longings and stories from everyday life in her videos. In doing so, the artist constantly places herself in different situations: She is singing, sleeping, dancing, multiplying herself, or sitting alone in a cinema. "We practice living surrounded by the echo of people we're constantly running into and will never meet. Many are Zilla, yet Zilla is only one of a kind: and so many." (Hans-Rudolf Reust on Zilla Leutenegger in the catalogue "Welcome in my dress" / Zilla Leutenegger)