As rigid as they are different, the white men look out at us. They are the Clock Owners. They are the time regime, dictating the pace of each day. Notre-Dame—a 2.9 meter-long hairpin—leans quietly against the wall. Adroit and elegant, it tames the wild, the impetuous, and the provocative: it is both an instrument of liberation and a weapon. Reducing it to mere aeration, four extraction fans fill a window cavity. Without providing either insight or outlook, the very idea of the window is distorted; instead of an opening, it becomes an exclusion barrier.
The brutality and absurdity of normative regimes emerge openly in the work of Rosemarie Trockel. Definitions, restrictions, paternalism, and violence due to gender become visible and transparent. Her advance is a risky, courageous, combative, and humorous one. In all media—drawing and painting, photography, sculpture, installation, and film—Trockel’s sociological gaze is as much directed at social regimes and political structures as it is at nature. Her observations and studies of processionary caterpillars, starlings, chickens, or lice, while scientifically sound and precise, always include her own critical gaze as a vital component. She appropriates the ambivalences in her work, capturing them decidedly.
The comprehensive exhibition displays works from all periods of Rosemarie Trockel’s oeuvre, from the 1970s to the new works created especially for the museum.
The exhibition is supported by:
Kulturstiftung des Bundes, Crespo Foundation, Kulturfonds Frankfurt RheinMain, Kulturstiftung der Länder
This exhibition is called Rosemarie Trockel.
Rosemarie Trockel is a German artist.
This exhibition shows her works of art.
White faces are staring at us.
They are the faces of men.
These men control time all day and every day.
These men are the clock owners.
This collection of art is called Clock Owner.
Rosemarie Trockel’s works of art show how she sees the world.
She shows us:
— how strange and weird everyday life can be; and
— how cruel and unfair life can be.
This unfairness is not new.
But the unfairness is awful.
Rosemarie Trockel’s art also looks at inequality:
She shows us:
— some people are at a disadvantage; and
— some people suffer violence
because of their gender.
Gender here means social gender.
Some people feel:
They are a woman; or
They are a man.
But there are more than just these two genders.
Rosemarie Trockel shows us that
some people are treated differently.
These subjects are very difficult.
She is very brave to work with these subjects.
But she also has a sense of humour.
You can look at her works of art and laugh.
Laughing is a part of Rosemarie Trockel‘s art.
Rosemarie Trockel’s art is very varied.
She uses different techniques.
For example:
— Pictures.
— Drawings.
— Photographs.
— Sculptures.
— Space and art.
— Films.
She is also interested in
how people live together in human society.
Rosemarie Trockel looks at:
— what is important in human society; and
— the rules of human society.
She is also interested in politics.
Rosemarie Trockel also watches animals closely.
She has watched:
— Hens.
— Lice.
— The processionary moth.
These moths began life as caterpillars.
They live near the Mediterannean sea and in the South of Europe.
— Starlings.
These birds have black feathers with patches of white.
She watches the animals and insects very closely.
Then she thinks about what she has seen.
You can see this in her works of art.
You also see contrasts in her art.
Some things do not seem to go together.
But they are united in one work of art.
That is the same as in life.
Sometimes things do not go together.
Rosemarie Trockel shows us these contrasts.
You look at her art and think about the contrasts.
This exhibition has works of art from her whole life as an artist.
Rosemarie Trockel created her first works of art in the 1970’s.
She has also created some works of art just for this exhibition.