Installation
view of 《Ulla
von Brandenburg: Shadows under water》 ©Barakat
Contemporary. Photo: Jeon Byung Cheol.Barakat Contemporary presents 《Shadows under water》, the first-ever solo exhibition of works by German artist Ulla von
Brandenburg (b. 1974) to come to Korea, through July 13.
Now based in Paris, her active ongoing practice employs the
approaches and methodologies of theater, stage, and performance art to address
various cultural and social issues that have emerged at different historical
moments, exploring ways in which specific narratives, rituals, and symbols of
the past have come to shape contemporary society.
Drawing inspiration from classical literature, expressionist
theater, and pre-Freudian psychoanalysis, von Brandenburg works with recurring
themes and imagery across a wide range of media that spans performance,
theater, video, two-dimensional works, painting, fabric, installation,
sculpture, and stage design.
Installation
view of 《Ulla
von Brandenburg: Shadows under water》 ©Barakat
Contemporary. Photo: Jeon Byung Cheol.《Shadows under water》 consists of works by
the artist that directly explore the show's central themes—water and
shadow—with great depth. Evoking the relationship between the fluid,
transparent nature of water and the shadows cast beneath its surface, the
exhibition title itself asks: how do we ourselves reflect upon reality and
ultimately produce images that may be distorted?
Here, water functions not just as a straightforwardly material
entity but through its metaphorical properties, serving as a key medium that
symbolizes transformation and transmutation, as well as psychological depth. In
setting out to explore this hidden realm of the unconscious, tracing this
boundary between the watery depths and the real world, Von Brandenburg prompts
the viewer to embark upon an inward exploration of their own, embracing yet
another mysterious world hidden under the surface.
