Catalogue available Reality is not truth By Thomas W. Kuhn Human reality is a many-layered structure formed by the sum total of myriad perspectives and interpretations of the facts; it continually alters with the constant current of change. Communal considerations and individual musings combine, suggesting the idea of a complex society. Art possesses the potential of allowing an awareness of this complexity to emerge in the beholder, without reducing the meaning in a simplifying manner. In her pictures, Sandra Ackermann traces and investigates such complex mixtures of social and personal concepts. In the last few years she has, by placing pictures within the pictures and by the playful juxtaposing of foreground and background, developed a visual language in which meaning is intensified by an exciting rendition. Along side this, we find her continuing interest in surfaces such as skin, textiles and hair; from these her painting draws its suggestive force. Women serve as a guiding theme , who, more often than not, are adaptations of fashion photography and possess a specific, unique pathos. They serve as orientation for the viewer, perhaps even as identification figure, and operate similarly to a personification in an allegory. These elegant women embody society’s self-image, serving not merely as vicegerents of the beautiful, but as condensates of desires. Other elements, too, originate from the collective pictorial memory, though from other sources. Pictures like those of a tank, a high-rise apartment building, a globe, or a burning human are not mere amendments, narrative anecdotes, or attachments to the actual paintings. These visual themes become dynamic counterparts of the women, and, as such, at times undermine and question the original function of depicting beauty. Fashion itself is familiar with shock elements and the transformation and integration of violence. Military clothing, for instance, was one of the most important sources of inspiration for the fashion art of the 20th century. Camouflage patterns adorn not only warships and tanks but embellish t-shirts and wallpaper. The question whether this transference charges the design with an aggressive moment or, rather, softens the design of power, remains unanswered. By bringing seemingly disparate elements together, Sandra Ackermann triggers a series of associations that might lead each of the different onlookers to relate what they see to his or her own specific life and situation. The sometime quizzical constellations of the pictures raise more questions than they offer answers to with their myriad meanings. Here Sandra Ackermann reminds one of the notoriously famous “Songs of Malador” by Lautrémont and the metaphor of a random meeting between an umbrella and sewing machine on a dissection table. Applied to painting the dissection table would be the canvas, on which the play of the various levels of reality is performed. The realities have much of the reality of dreams, in which, likewise, the most astounding encounters and turns of plot are made possible. At times, the closed eyes of the protagonists, as is the case in the pictures ‘Die Springer’ or ‘Im Regen,’ allude to dreams, or to the act of dreaming. Closed eyes pose the question of the internal picture, or the inner perception of a situation. What sensation, what vision is prompted by the raindrops streaming over the body of a woman? Are the onlookers given possible insight into the phantasms of the kneeling women, who, as is the case in ‘Springer,’ conceal their eyes with their hand? The subject‘s clothing becomes a kind of portal that opens the view on another picture, and although these pictures within the picture do not align with the curves of the women, as would be the case if the motives were printed on the clothing, it is nevertheless near impossible not to connect the motive of a burning person or that of workers on a high wire mast with the clothing, and thus with the person wearing the clothing. These examples alone serve to show how the pictures within the picture contrast with one another. If clothing really were to be imprinted in such a way, one would rightly speak of a perverted society, in which a human drama such as the burning of a human is turned into décor. In connection with the Benetton campaign by Oliviero Toscani, and after extensive protest, precisely this question was discussed. Fashion possesses a seldom acknowledged critical dimension and explosive power; Sandra Ackermann’s paintings feature such dimension and power, and ask just these questions. At times, stylistic elements of clothing or other motives have a nostalgic character. Obvious historical elements, such as an old aviator’s cap from the thirties or a cocktail dress in the style of the sixties, not only add a certain facet of recollection to the paintings of Sandra Ackermann, but are literal representatives of the theme of remembrance alluded to by the term ‘Bildgedächtnis’ (collectiv visual memory). This, though, is not historically correct. The human awareness of time, particularly that of past time, is prone to change in such a way that every time a differing picture of reality emerges. Fashion, too, recovers past stylistic elements. One might even refer to this form of remembering as ‘recycling’ – as it is, the present appears to be a continual act of bringing the past to mind, and this, in turn, blends with the more recent events. The sustained and continual experiencing of time are themes found in the allegorical character of Sandra Ackermann’s women, whose composure appears at rest, even in moments of high pathos. The permanence of composure almost removes them from the here and now, they become timeless, much like saints in more traditional painting. A parachutist or an ascending space shuttle are, on the other hand, entirely caught up in a temporary process, that manifests the passing of time, and impermanence as such. And, again, the combination of motifs reveals a contrast. The pictures stand with one foot in the past and with another, due the choice of motif, in the perpetual present. As we consider the work, we also discover a similar fusion of the past and the present in a series of adapted portraits of past masters that Sandra Ackermann completed in 2006. One of these is ‘Dorothea Kannengießer.’ The picture refers to a study by the younger Hans Holbein of his so-called Madonna of Darmstadt. Sandra Ackermann’s rendering of the mentioned study is done in a particularly for painting exceptionally exciting way, in that she paints the face, which is tightly wrapped in bands, in an illusionistical manner, while the contour of the clothing is not so much painted as hinted at. The sketch or the tracing for the ‘final’ picture is here made permanent. This pattern Sandra Ackermann has since transferred to a series of recognizably more contemporary women and, by so doing, formally places them in a timeless community with Dorothea Kannengießer. Sandra Ackermann’s painted collages are an entwined combination of intuitive and controlled pictorial elements that, as a whole, offer, potentially, both poetical and critical meaning. The highly stylized composition of form and motif reveal not a turning from reality, but, instead, present a contextual exaggeration and reduction therein that often clash and drift apart. Sandra Ackermann herself refers to her pictures as mirrors “as beautiful as advertisements, yet truer in emotion; for they are in possession of no immediate value outside themselves. They exist to give the feeling I have of the world, in which I live, an illustrated expression.” And it is this feeling that generates meaning.
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Idowu Oluwaseun | PEDESTAL Dec 09, 2023 - Jan 27, 2024 |
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SELECTION 2023 Nov 10, 2023 - Dec 02, 2023 |
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Harding Meyer | Audience Aug 26, 2023 - Nov 04, 2023 |
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Summer Break Jul 11, 2023 - Aug 22, 2023 |
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Flávia Junqueira | Symphony of Illusions Jun 10, 2023 - Jul 08, 2023 |
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Fransix Tenda Lomba | Historical Shock Apr 22, 2023 - Jun 03, 2023 |
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Till Freiwald | Echo Jan 28, 2023 - Mar 31, 2023 |
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SELECTION | Part 2 Dec 16, 2022 - Jan 21, 2023 |
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Daniel Heil | Wheel of Dharma Nov 05, 2022 - Dec 03, 2022 |
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Claudia Rogge | WARP and WEFT Aug 27, 2022 - Oct 29, 2022 |
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Éder Oliveira | Oposición Jun 24, 2022 - Jul 30, 2022 |
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Fábio Baroli | Where the wind turns May 06, 2022 - Jun 18, 2022 |
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Frank Bauer | Bilder vom Verschwinden Mar 12, 2022 - Apr 30, 2022 |
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Selection Feb 08, 2022 - Mar 05, 2022 |
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Harding Meyer | known unknowns Oct 29, 2021 - Dec 18, 2021 |
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Kate Waters | It takes one to know one Aug 27, 2021 - Oct 23, 2021 |
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Giacomo Costa | Atmospheres May 28, 2021 - Jul 03, 2021 |
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Idowu Oluwaseun | REVOLUTIONS PER MINUTE: a synthesis of time and sound Oct 30, 2020 - Dec 12, 2020 |
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Peter Uka | Inner Frame Aug 28, 2020 - Oct 24, 2020 |
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Harding Meyer | new works Jun 05, 2020 - Jul 15, 2020 |
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Mary A. Kelly | Chair Mar 14, 2020 - May 30, 2020 |
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Michael Tolloy | Solid Solidarity Jan 17, 2020 - Feb 29, 2020 |
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Kate Waters | Love Shacks and other Hideouts Oct 18, 2019 - Jan 09, 2020 |
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Frank Bauer | Paths of Inaccuracy Aug 30, 2019 - Oct 12, 2019 |
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Christian Bazant-Hegemark | Kindness of Strangers Jun 07, 2019 - Jul 13, 2019 |
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Sandra Ackermann | Escape into your Reality May 03, 2019 - Jun 01, 2019 |
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Kay Kaul | Cloudbusting Mar 08, 2019 - Apr 27, 2019 |
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Jurriaan Molenaar | Fermate Jan 18, 2019 - Mar 02, 2019 |
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Harding Meyer / Humanize Oct 19, 2018 - Jan 12, 2019 |
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Mihoko Ogaki / Soft Landing Aug 31, 2018 - Oct 13, 2018 |
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Peter Uka / Fragment of the Present Passed Apr 13, 2018 - May 26, 2018 |
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Daniel Heil / Monologues Mar 09, 2018 - Apr 07, 2018 |
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Düsseldorf Photo Weekend 2018 Feb 16, 2018 - Feb 18, 2018 |
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Sandra Senn / Zwischen Zwei Meeren Jan 26, 2018 - Mar 03, 2018 |
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Frank Bauer / Die Gelassenheit der Dinge Nov 17, 2017 - Jan 20, 2018 |
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Kate Waters / Whistling In The Dark Sepr 01, 2017 - Nov 11, 2017 |
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Untitled Jul 12, 2017 - Aug 02, 2017 |
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Davide La Rocca / 13K ( Part 1 ) May 12, 2017 - Jun 27, 2017 |
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Sandra Ackermann / Lost in Nothingness Mar 24, 2017 - May 06, 2017 |
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Claudia Rogge / CONCENTRATION Jan 27, 2017 - Mar 18, 2017 |
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Christian Bazant - Hegemark / The Rise and Fall of Transformative Hopes and Expectations Nov 11, 2016 - Jan 21, 2017 |
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Harding Meyer / The Others Aug 26, 2016 - Nov 05, 2016 |
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Crossing Borders Jun 03, 2016 - Jul 15, 2016 |
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Sandra Senn / Flüchtiges Getriebe Apr 08, 2016 - May 21, 2016 |
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Corrado Zeni / Éloge de la fuite Nov 27, 2015 - Jan 09, 2016 |
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Claudia Rogge / PerSe Oct 16, 2015 - Nov 21, 2015 |
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Kate Waters // Tell it like it is Aug 28, 2015 - Oct 10, 2015 |
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Visions Of Sensory Space ( by Weightless Artists Association - SPARTNIC ) May 15, 2015 - Jul 04, 2015 |
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Sandra Ackermann / Wasteland Mar 13, 2015 - May 02, 2015 |
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Lost Scapes Jan 30, 2015 - Mar 07, 2015 |
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Christian Bazant-Hegemark / Calibrating Aesthetics Nov 14, 2014 - Jan 17, 2015 |
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Frank Bauer / Back to Basics Aug 29, 2014 - Nov 08, 2014 |
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Harding Meyer // recent paintings May 23, 2014 - Aug 23, 2014 |
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Till Freiwald - memoria Apr 11, 2014 - May 17, 2014 |
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Quadriennale Düsseldorf 2014 / Gallery Evening Apr 05, 2014 - Apr 05, 2014 |
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Giacomo Costa // Traces Nov 22, 2013 - Jan 11, 2013 |
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DC-Open Galleries: Matthias Danberg - Inventory by Appropriation Sepr 06, 2013 - Nov 16, 2013 |
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Christian Bazant-Hegemark // VOW OF SILENCE May 24, 2013 - Aug 20, 2013 |
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Corrado Zeni // Generation Why Apr 12, 2013 - May 18, 2013 |
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behind the Non-Colours Mar 22, 2013 - Apr 06, 2013 |
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Sandra Ackermann // Running to stand still Feb 15, 2013 - Mar 16, 2013 |
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Düsseldorf Photo Weekend 2013 Feb 01, 2013 - Feb 09, 2013 |
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Mihoko Ogaki // Star Tales - White Floating Nov 30, 2012 - Jan 31, 2013 |
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Claudia Rogge / Lost in Paradise Oct 12, 2012 - Nov 24, 2012 |
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Harding Meyer // features Sepr 07, 2012 - Oct 06, 2012 |
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Summer 2012 - Part 2 Aug 10, 2012 - Sepr 01, 2012 |
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Summer 2012 Jul 06, 2012 - Sepr 01, 2012 |
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Maria Friberg // The Painting Series May 11, 2012 - Jun 23, 2012 |
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Mary A. Kelly // Father & Child Mar 30, 2012 - May 06, 2012 |
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Maia Naveriani // Future Wolves and Chicks so far Feb 10, 2012 - Mar 24, 2012 |
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Düsseldorf Photo Weekend 2012 Feb 04, 2012 - Feb 08, 2012 |
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Kate Waters // The Air that I breathe Dec 09, 2011 - Jan 28, 2012 |
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Frank Bauer / ...den Wald vor lauter Bäumen.... Nov 04, 2011 - Dec 03, 2011 |
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Claudia Rogge // Final Friday Sepr 09, 2011 - Oct 29, 2011 |
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Davide La Rocca - STILLS May 27, 2011 - Jul 16, 2011 |
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Giacomo Costa // Post Natural Apr 01, 2011 - May 21, 2011 |
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Harding Meyer - to be a real vision Feb 18, 2011 - Mar 26, 2011 |
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Shannon Rankin - Disperse / Displace Dec 03, 2010 - Feb 12, 2011 |
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Sandra Ackermann // I look inside you Oct 15, 2010 - Nov 27, 2010 |
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Amparo Sard / AT THE IMPASSE Sepr 03, 2010 - Oct 09, 2010 |
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Kate Waters // The Land of Kubla Khan Jun 11, 2010 - Jul 17, 2010 |
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Jurriaan Molenaar // Lessness Apr 30, 2010 - Jun 05, 2010 |
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Claudia Rogge // The Paradise of the Onlooker Mar 05, 2010 - Apr 24, 2010 |
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Ivonne Thein // incredible me Jan 22, 2010 - Feb 27, 2010 |
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Frank Bauer // Jet Set Nov 27, 2009 - Jan 15, 2010 |
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Michael Koch // forever more Oct 23, 2009 - Nov 21, 2009 |
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Masaharu Sato // SIGNS Sepr 04, 2009 - Oct 17, 2009 |
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Harding Meyer // blind date Jun 19, 2009 - Aug 22, 2009 |
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Maria Friberg // way ahead Apr 24, 2009 - Jun 13, 2009 |
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Claudia Rogge // Isolation ( aus: Segment 8 - die Blasen der Gesellschaft) Mar 06, 2009 - Apr 18, 2009 |
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Claudia Rogge - The Opening Mar 06, 2009 - Apr 18, 2009 |
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JoJo Tillmann // What you see is what you get Jan 30, 2009 - Feb 28, 2009 |
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Sandra Ackermann // Die Wirklichkeit ist nicht die Wahrheit Nov 21, 2008 - Jan 24, 2009 |
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Kate Waters - Getting used to the 21st Century Oct 10, 2008 - Nov 15, 2008 |
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Mihoko Ogaki - Milky Ways Sepr 04, 2008 - Oct 04, 2008 |
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Summer 2008 // Painting Aug 12, 2008 - Aug 30, 2008 |
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Silke Rehberg: Stationen 1,4,6,7,11,12,13,14 Jun 13, 2008 - Jul 12, 2008 |
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Maia Naveriani: At home with good ideas May 09, 2008 - Jun 07, 2008 |
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Justin Richel: Rise and Fall Apr 04, 2008 - May 03, 2008 |
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Davide La Rocca - Strange Object Feb 08, 2008 - Mar 28, 2008 |
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Frank Bauer: AkikoAlinaAlinkaAndrew.... Nov 30, 2007 - Feb 02, 2008 |
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Maria Friberg: Fallout Oct 12, 2007 - Nov 24, 2007 |
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Harding Meyer / in sight Sepr 06, 2007 - Oct 11, 2007 |
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SUMMER '07 Jul 17, 2007 - Sepr 01, 2007 |
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Kay Kaul - Wasserfarben Jun 15, 2007 - Jul 14, 2007 |
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Sandra Ackermann - Point Blank Mar 02, 2007 - Apr 28, 2007 |
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Tamara K.E.: pioneers -none of us and somewhere else Jan 19, 2007 - Feb 24, 2007 |
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Till Freiwald Nov 17, 2006 - Jan 13, 2007 |
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Claudia Rogge: U N I F O R M Sepr 01, 2006 - Nov 11, 2006 |
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Kate Waters: Killing Time May 05, 2006 - Jun 17, 2006 |
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Katia Bourdarel: The Flesh of Fairy Tales Mar 31, 2006 - Apr 29, 2006 |
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Mihoko Ogaki Feb 10, 2006 - Mar 18, 2006 |
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Silke Rehberg: RICOMINCIARE DAL CORPO Jan 27, 2006 - Feb 26, 2006 |
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Sandra Ackermann Dec 08, 2005 - Jan 15, 2006 |
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Corrado Zeni Dec 04, 2005 - Jan 11, 2006 |
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Frank Bauer Nov 18, 2005 - Jan 15, 2006 |
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Harding Meyer Oct 07, 2005 - Nov 12, 2005 |
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AUFTAKT Sepr 02, 2005 - Oct 01, 2005 |
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Claudia Rogge: Rapport Jun 17, 2005 - Jul 20, 2005 |
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May 13, 2005 - Jun 11, 2005 |
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Kate Waters: Solo-Exhibition in the Gallery Thomas Cohn, Sao Paulo Apr 16, 2005 - May 20, 2005 |
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Vittorio Gui: FROZEN MOMENTS Apr 08, 2005 - May 07, 2005 |
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Kay Kaul - ARTSCAPES Apr 03, 2005 - May 29, 2005 |
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SEO Geheimnisvoller Blick Mar 04, 2005 - Apr 02, 2005 |
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Claudia van Koolwijk at Museum Bochum Feb 26, 2005 - Apr 17, 2005 |
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Corrado Zeni - Six Degrees of Separation Nov 26, 2004 - Jan 15, 2005 |
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Maia Naveriani: What' s the difference between ME and YOU? Oct 15, 2004 - Nov 20, 2004 |
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Tamara K.E.: MAD DONNA AND DONNA CORLEONE Sepr 03, 2004 - Oct 09, 2004 |
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Davide La Rocca: Real Vision Reflex Jun 12, 2004 - Jul 17, 2004 |
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Kay Kaul COLLECTORSCAPES Apr 23, 2004 - Jun 05, 2004 |