berliner MORGENPOST

Article in Berliner Morgenpost

English translation of the article here:

Rebecca Fontaine-Wolf’s paintings have slightly reflective surfaces, a sheen that vanishes in the play of light. The effect created during the digital production process is more than just a beautiful illusion; it should be understood as a concept: these works are also about the people viewing them, with the gaze being their central theme. What does the gaze do to what it targets? Art history, with its countless depictions of nudes, mostly tells the story of the degradation of women into objects of male observation. The feminine was made compliant, forced into roles, often reduced to mere decoration – if its depiction didn’t already primarily cater to sexual consumption.

Rebecca Fontaine-Wolf’s paintings can be understood as a powerful objection to this tradition, as an attempt to break it. The artist’s body is visible – but never in full, it is itself reflected and fragmented, and the face almost always remains unseen. Fontaine-Wolf is simultaneously model, photographer, and director when these images are created – and in doing so, she deeply draws from the visual and iconographic history, referencing the Vanitas motifs of European still-life painting and its baroque abundance, while achieving excitingly contemporary results.

The works are currently on display under the title “Flesh & The Mirror” at Haus Kunst Mitte. At the same time, the exhibition “Monkey Mind” has been opened, showcasing 50 works by David Guderlach from the past four decades. Born in 1957 in Neu-Ulm, the artist, who in his life has been an actor, DJ, and therapist, places his multi-layered compositions in the tradition of American Pop Art – and with a bold gesture, he revives the New York of Andy Warhol and Jean-Michel Basquiat. Wild color explorations and elements of urban everyday life combine into a joyful dance on the fringes of a big city.

Haus Kunst Mitte, Heidestr. 54, Mitte. Open Wed-Sun, 12-6 p.m.