TEFAF 2008:
Ellen Gallagher's Series DeLuxe in
Deutsche Bank's VIP Lounge
Ellen
Gallagher, from the series "DeLuxe", 2005,
Deutsche
Bank Collection, Courtesy Gagosian Gallery
This
year, Deutsche Bank will
once again co-sponsor the TEFAF
in Maastricht with a VIP Lounge at the leading fair for art and
antiquities worldwide. Already the 2007 motto commemorating the fair's
20th anniversary, "Simply
the Best," was significant in this respect, because 2008 proves
once again to be a year of superlatives. From March 7 to 16, 227
international galleries and art dealers will be showing works ranging from
antiquity to the 21st century – everything from paintings, drawings,
sculptures, furniture, book art, and textiles to porcelain, silver, and
jewels. The estimated value of the exhibited specimens is well over a
billion dollars, not including the precious gems of jewelers such as Graff,
Bulgari, or Chopard.
Along with the traditional sections offering artistic treasures from
antiquity, the Middle Ages, the Renaissance, or the paintings of Old
Masters, the exhibition sections featuring Asian and contemporary art are
growing increasingly important at the Dutch fair.
Ellen
Gallagher, "DeLuxe", 2005,
Deutsche
Bank Collection, Courtesy Gagosian Gallery
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Thus, in 2008 Deutsche Bank's VIP Lounge will be dedicated
to a young masterpiece – Ellen
Gallagher's 60-part series De Luxe (2004/2005), which was
purchased in 2006 as one of the most important new acquisitions to the
corporate collection. Along with Kara
Walker, Gallagher counts among the most important African American
artists of the present day. Her series DeLuxe is based on archival
material from magazines like Ebony,
a successful lifestyle magazine developed in 1945 specifically for the
African American market. Gallagher's paintings and drawings are
characterized by cunning interventions, for instance the googly eyes and
wigs of plasticine that she embellishes the advertisements with. Her
visual commentaries investigate the past while undermining the language
and behavioral patterns the ads propagate. In using both authentic and
invented historical material, Gallagher unmasks cultural "truths" as
advertising promises, forcing the viewer to confront manipulated
information. Her work addresses American identity and how this identity is
first adapted and then smoothened out, even while the conflicts endure.
The tension in the work derives from the subtle, but ruthless interplay
between an austere minimalist formalism and the historically charged
archival material. Gallagher’s references to jazz and Minimal Art generate
entirely new visual experiences.
Ellen
Gallagher, from the series "DeLuxe", 2005,
Deutsche
Bank Collection, Courtesy Gagosian Gallery
At
TEFAF, De Luxe will be shown in the exclusive VIP Lounge - a room
environment recalling the atmosphere of a cinema or theater. In the
lounge, painted in deep velvety red hues, the series will be dramatically
lit and presented as though on a screen or stage, with the focus entirely
on the presentation of this large-scale work. With the exhibition of DeLuxe,
Deutsche Bank underscores its commitment to modern and contemporary art as
well as its effort to illuminate current social themes against an art
historical background.
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