Austrian
Cultural Forum, Midtown East
JUN 28 -
SEP 8, 2019
Austrian
Cultural Forum New York, 11 East 52nd Street, New York
This
summer, the Austrian Cultural Forum New York is pleased to present a
site-specific art installation by Erste Bank ExtraVALUE Art Award 2019
recipient Gabriele Edlbauer. On display from June 28 to September 8, How much is
the fish? views brotherhood in the era of late capitalism through an
anthropomorphic lens.
For her
first solo show in New York, Gabriele Edlbauer took her inspiration from the
eponymous Eurodance hit by Scooter and its opening line "The chase / is
better than the catch." Four figures gather in the space the artist has
created, four male "human" bodies with indeterminate
"animal" heads resembling those of anteaters or moose. The sculptures
appear anonymous, loath to give away who or what they stand for, yet they are
united by a common theme: fishing. Surrounded by pools and buckets, the figures
proudly display the trophies of a fishing trip, be it piranhas or bass. The
viewer faces an idyllic bro scene, albeit one where brotherhood has little to
do with the political virtue of fraternity but rather hints at men's dubious
homosocial bonds in the age of pervasive and limitless capitalism.
It is hard
to say whether these uncanny figures are engaged in a hobby or a hunt, whether
they are adorable idiots dressed in bad carnival costumes or belong to the
group of creepy clowns that haunt this era of political unrest. Edlbauer adds
another layer of complexity to her installation with a cartoonish mural
depicting a second bromantic fishing scene. Placed side-by-side in a boat are
four anthropomorphic New York City icons: Charging Bull, Wolf of Wall Street,
Mr. Met, and Sparky the Dragon. One may only speculate as what has prompted
this incongruous lot to join company. The image seems to reek of machoism and
money, while the characters' rich and sometimes questionable history invites
comparison with the nondescript nature of the sculptures.
Cute, zany,
and deeply troubling at the same time, all these figures seem much too familiar
in our present day and age. In their tameness, they only appear more
threatening. Gabriele Edlbauer's hybrids represent a study in political zoology
and ask the audience to engage with complicated feelings in a complicated
present.
This
exhibition is realized in collaboration with studio das weisse haus and the
sponsoring program of Erste Bank as part of the Erste Bank ExtraVALUE Art Award
2019.
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