Horizontal and Vertical Emptiness

For his “Horizontal and Vertical Emptiness” exhibition at the Meinblau project space, Andreas Burger will be showing two large wooden boxes that are normally used to transport works of art. They give the visitors the impression that they are attending an exhibition that is still in the process of being installed. At the same time, the imposing dimensions of the boxes conjure up in one’s mind how big the works of art packed in them might be, at the same time evoking associations of a correspondingly large studio and depot along with a whole crew of assistants. What the boxes contain, or whether they contain anything at all, is something that Burger deliberately does not reveal to the visitor, using them as cyphers to evoke a mind game.

Visible in the space are two sculptures by Andreas Burger, in which sculpture is intertwined with conceptual art and Appropriation Art. He adapts to a certain extent a work by Jonathan Monk, in which the latter immortalizes himself, with irony no doubt, in classical form, practically Caesar-like and with the tip of his nose knocked off. Andreas Burger copied Monk’s portrait bust and attached a cast of his own nose to his original replica. Monk, who is known to deliberately cite and take further the work of others – naturally of big players on the art market – himself now becomes the “victim” of a productive “plundering.”

In another sculpted portrait of Vincent van Gogh, Burger added a cast of his own left ear to the maimed world-famous artist. Burger deliberately celebrates this festival of piracy and citations of the works of Monk, who places himself contextually in a high sphere of art history with the way in which he pursues his work. He brings this method back down to earth when he applies his own nose and at the same time takes Monk’s game too far – with great irony – in his bust of van Gogh.

Text: Matthias Reichelt

Sponsored by Bezirksamt Pankow von Berlin – Amt für Weiterbildung und Kultur – Fachbereich Kunst und Kultur