Fulterer Scherrer

blingbling

Press preview
Wednesday, 22 November 2023, 10:30 a.m.

Opening
Thursday, 23 November 2023, 7 p.m.

Artist Talk (in German)
Friday, 24 November 2023, 2 p.m.

Guided Tour (in German)
with Curator Thomas Häusle
Thursday, 25 January 2024, 7 p.m.

Exhibition Duration
24 November 2023 until 4 February 2024
daily 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.

Under the tinkling title “blingbling”, the artist duo Fulterer Scherrer has developed a concept for new spatially relevant works created specifically for the former assembly hall of the Kunstraum Dornbirn. On the one hand, the dimensions of the sculptural structures, measuring four metres long and 1.80 metres wide, are adopted from the lattice windows of the industrial hall. On the other hand, they are installed hanging or leaning on the walls and ceiling.

The large-format, almost elliptical sculptures consist of a wooden frame, the surface texture of which is still easily recognizable on the glazed neon coloured surfaces. The hollow frames are spanned and covered with coloured artificial leather. The material evokes all the associations of real leather in structure and feel, but is recognizable as an imitation – as an organic-looking imitation in contrast to the natural wood. It is without the characteristic irregularities of real leather and is an industrial mass-produced product of our time with widespread use in the fashion industry. It is often perceived as cheap and the mental ramifications extend to fetish clothing through its imitative similarity to skin, the largest human organ and itself a complex sensorium. Fulterer Scherrer skilfully play with these references, which are processed in the form of representative characteristics – used not only for today’s possibilities of industrial production, but also more broadly for social interaction and (partly marginalized or hidden) as materials with the character of contemporary witnesses.

The artificial leather surfaces are stretched and sewn over the frames, forming in combination sensually communicated abstract colour surfaces. The folds serve as decoration and expand the body of the frame; hanging straps are added but serve no clearly defined function and leave the drawing of conceptual references to the viewer. Eyelets and studs of disproportionate dimensions hold wood and artificial leather together or provide hanging points for the installation – in other words, they are used in their actual function, but are greatly enlarged. The colourfulness of the artistic works contrasts with the beige-grey architecture of the former assembly hall. The palette ranges from pastel to neon and is used in both harmonizing and contrasting colour combinations.

In conjunction with the dimensions of the sculptures, the sensual interplay of the materials, elements and colours results in a constant changing between abstraction and representation. The tinkling exhibition title suggests that we may expect something that we understand and hear colloquially – “blingbling”, an onomatopoetic word that translates the visual vibration of the works into language. Coming from hip-hop culture, the expression established itself in everyday international language in the early 1990s. It once served to symbolize ideal and material value, such as sparkling diamonds. Since then, it has accrued derogatory connotations of decadence and kitsch, which refer, for example, to exaggerated self-display by means of glittering luxury goods.

In their artistic work, Fulterer Scherrer have long been processing the range of associations, evaluative criteria and uses invoked by materials. Several interfaces between the disciplines of fine art, design, crafts, consumer and mass culture serve as referential mouldings and cultural witnesses: through an aesthetic of harmony and superficiality, in the materiality and its processing, they create a physical connection between the viewer and works of art. This abolishes the aloofness of formal abstraction and poses the virulent questions of identity, sexuality and power in a playful and light way: “In the narrow area between painting and object art, questions about dominance, loss of control and pain are treated – ritualized practices of lacing and tightening become for the viewer a visible, tangible work process that stops at a point of open equilibrium, but reveals the danger of self-destruction”. (Fulterer Scherrer, 2021)

Looking at previous artistic work of Fulterer Scherrer, everything in the exhibition at Kunstraum Dornbirn seems to grow out of the intimacy of the wall objects in the series “studs #2” (2021) and “studs #1” (2020-21), or the object-like tensions in the series “Bondage” ( 2018-19). In these series, the artists work with a colourful selection of lashing straps, stretcher frames, artificial leather, studs and eyelets. Painterly and sculptural elements are combined, sewn together, tied up and stretched. The constructions are visually appealing and highly aesthetic in their material combination. An intimate, physical connection to the viewer is generated by size, materiality and workmanship. The physical reference of the new works in “blingbling” is completely different from the previous series in terms of dimension – the sculptures, four metres long, take up a considerable space, exceed the size of the human body, can be experienced only in fragments when viewed up close, and play with the sizes and arrangement of the spatial structure. The architecture of the former industrial hall offers an 11 metres-high, 30 metres-long and 14 metres-wide space that opens to the outside through the large lattice windows. The artistic works restructure the spatial experience; they provide visual axes and possibilities of movement for the discovery of space.

Biopgraphy
The artists live and work in Vienna and the Waldviertel. Gabriele Fulterer was born in Mürzzuschlag, studied sculpture at the University of Music and Performing Arts at the Mozarteum in Salzburg and at the Academy of Fine Arts in Vienna in Bruno Gironcoli’s master class. Christine Scherrer was born in Salzburg, studied textile design at the University of Music and Performing Arts at the Mozarteum in Salzburg and painting/concept at the University of Applied Arts in Vienna with Ingeborg Strobl and Erwin Wurm. They have been working together in a collaborative, interdisciplinary and cross-media manner since 2007.

A catalogue will be published in Spring 2024 to accompany the exhibition.