Koenig Gallery, 121, Alexandrinenstraße 118, 10969 Berlin

  • People, terms in barking (us)
    Artist : Helen Marten
    Title : People, terms in barking (us)
    Date(s) : 2018
    Medium : 315 x 670 x 440 cm, 124 x 263 3/4 x 173 1/4 in, unique
    Material : Wood, steel, aluminium, cast resin, cast Jesmonite, embroidered fabric, glazed ceramic, cast bronze, milled modelboard, tree log, coins, rubber, cast aluminium, cast iron, chipboard, shellaced teabags, pressed flower, newspaper, string, Nylon paint o
    Website : https://www.koeniggalerie.com/
  • Water fidelity (them)
    Artist : Helen Marten
    Title : Water fidelity (them)
    Date(s) : 2018
    Medium : 310 x 1,250 x 500 cm, 122 x 492 x 196 3/4 in, unique
    Material : Wood, steel, aluminium, Formica, cast iron, cast resin, cast bronze, cast Jesmonite, glazed ceramic, leather, milled modelboard, sticks, cast aluminium, airbrushed steel, wicker, embroidered fabric, sand, gravel, matchsticks, airbrushed steel, bricks
    Website : https://www.koeniggalerie.com/
  • A bath in italics (you)
    Artist : Helen Marten
    Title : A bath in italics (you)
    Date(s) : 2018
    Medium : 265 x 650 x 420 cm, 104 1/3 x 256 x 165 1/3 in, unique
    Material : Wood, steel, aluminium, Formica, cast bronze, glazed ceramic, cast resin, cast Jesmonite, pencil on paper, embroidered fabric, milled modelboard, paint, cast iron, clay, bitumen
    Website : https://www.koeniggalerie.com/
  • Census
    Artist : Helen Marten
    Title : Census
    Date(s) : 2018
    Medium : 310 x 240 x 8.5 cm, 122 x 94 1/2 x 3 1/3 in, unique
    Material : Nylon paint on fabric, ash frame, aluminium
    Website : https://www.koeniggalerie.com/
  • All mother (after James Ensor)
    Artist : Helen Marten
    Title : All mother (after James Ensor)
    Date(s) : 2018
    Medium : 310 x 240 x 8.5 cm, 122 x 94 1/2 x 3 1/3 in, unique
    Material : Nylon paint on fabric, ash frame, aluminium, airbrushed steel
    Website : https://www.koeniggalerie.com/
  • Moral Clay
    Artist : Helen Marten
    Title : Moral Clay
    Date(s) : 2018
    Medium : 310 x 240 x 8.5 cm, 122 x 94 1/2 x 3 1/3 in, unique
    Material : Nylon paint on fabric, ash frame, aluminium, airbrushed paper
    Website : https://www.koeniggalerie.com/
  • The colour of panic
    Artist : Helen Marten
    Title : The colour of panic
    Date(s) : 2018
    Medium : 310 x 240 x 8.5 cm, 122 x 94 1/2 x 3 1/3 in, unique
    Material : Nylon paint on fabric, ash frame, aluminium
    Website : https://www.koeniggalerie.com/
  • An ocean wig
    Artist : Helen Marten
    Title : An ocean wig
    Date(s) : 2018
    Medium : 310 x 240 x 8.5 cm, 122 x 94 1/2 x 3 1/3 in, unique
    Material : Nylon paint on fabric, ash frame, aluminium
    Website : https://www.koeniggalerie.com/


Helen Marten: Fixed Sky Situation

Koenig Galerie

12 January – 24 February 2019

Review by Anais Castro

For her most recent exhibition titled ‘Fixed Sky Situation’ at Koenig Galerie, Turner and Hepworth Prize winner Helen Marten presents eight new works, including three complex installations and five large paintings that circle the space like secular polyptychs.

The nave of the old St. Agnes church, which has housed Koenig Galerie’s main exhibition hall since 2015, is a space that never fails to impress. Its architecture has retained the calm grandeur of a house of devotion. But this architectural hurrah also makes for a challenging space in which to exhibit contemporary art. At times, it is too vast and dilutes the impact of the art being exhibited. When it works, though, it gives muscle to a show.

Marten’s latest exhibition successfully inhabits this spectacular space. Upon entering the gallery, the visitor encounters the first installation, which is described in the exhibition statement as the ‘you’ sculpture. Reminiscent of a site under repair, with cast pylons and a long sliding element that is not unlike the rail of a dry-cleaners, and a wooden platform hosting various objects; the ‘you’ sculpture seems divided between an ‘inside’ and an ‘outside’ section. This is a piece that prompts the viewer to pay close attention to details, and particularly to what’s ‘inside.’ Here, details are plentiful. The whole exhibition works within this push / pull logic - trying to balance an appreciation for the whole structure while paying attention to its exquisite parts. This is particularly true of Marten’s paintings. Metal structures partition their surfaces like a Mondrian grid and the left over rectangular areas reveal an array of fabrics and motifs.

The second installation presents itself in the form of a collapsing hut that sprawls over a series of rails and tables. Every surface is packed with an assemblage of surprising items in every imaginable colour, shape and texture. The formidable number of objects creates a generous clutter that appears meticulously placed and inexplicably organized. The result is strangely alluring; it does not overwhelm, but actually calms the mind. There is a delight in the unexpected harmony of so many things. Herein lies the genius of Marten and the wonder of her arrangements: somehow managing to be excessive without being redundant.

On the other side of a large board is the last installation: a sort of picnic table, again covered in the most astonishing of objects and accompanied by a large painting supported on the self-standing wall. This is a fascinating world - a cabinet of curiosities.

But do all these objects add up to a coherent assemblage? It should come as no surprise that this work emerges in the age of the index. It is part of a digital world that has severed the signifier from the signified and elevated objects to the position of ciphers. Meaning and context are obfuscated. The exhibition text goes further, describing the exhibition as ‘hieroglyphic.’ The more one delves into these works, the more expansive Helen Marten’s universe become. Looking beyond face value, Marten proves, the world is vast.

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