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Andreas Slominski’s predominantly conceptual oeuvre features sculptural objects and performances, often addressing everyday objects and placing them in a new context. Slominski’s art is seductive. It lures the viewer into a trap in which firmly held perceptions are called into question; it dazzles and at the same time demands closer scrutiny.
Slominski first burst onto the international scene with the traps that have been an integral part of his oeuvre since the mid-1980s. This exhibition opened with his Rattenfalle (Rat Trap) (1998), Trap for Birds of Prey (1999) and Vogelfalle (Bird Trap) (2000). The trap is both a mechanical instrument and a metaphor, functioning through the power of enticement by setting out bait that momentarily dazzles. Once the trap snaps closed, its captive is suddenly exposed to a physical, emotional or intellectual shock that generates an energetic outburst of feelings. The trap embodies power, deception and dominion as well as underhand slyness. The artist plays on familiar connotations, with the result that the viewer often feels caught out and even victimised.
Models of mills form another important component of Slominksi’s work. He is interested in the many different functions they perform, both physically and associatively, which may not necessarily be immediately evident. Presenting them in miniature form breaks the mould of the original function.
In Slominski’s ‘Styrofoam Pictures‘ group, the genres of painting and sculpture blend into a kind of ‘combine painting‘ in which the lightness of the material contrasts with the heaviness of the glazing and aluminium frames. The hand-crafted three-dimensional objects made of different man-made materials integrated into the reliev background can be constantly rearranged by the artist.
143 pages, 144 ill., hardcover
German/English
2010, Hatje Cantz Verlag, Ostfildern
ISBN 978-3-7757-2603-0
€ 25,00
