The art of Melanie Siegel and Christina Kirchinger goes deep. Although both artists work in two dimensions, they devote themselves to “the pictorial exploration of space”. What that means? It’s about relationships like front and back, top and bottom, and everything in between. This is already expressed in the title of the joint exhibition at the Ebersberger Kunstverein: “yonder” – English for “that one / that one / that one … over there”. These two artists want to refer to another, distant place, the location of which, however, remains approximate.
This exhibition pays homage to geometry, especially the rectangle, as illustrated in this print by Christina Kirchinger.
(Photo: Peter Hinz-Rosin)
is this a photo No, a painting by Melanie Siegel.
(Photo: Peter Hinz-Rosin)
Both are interested in distinctly geometric, man-made places
The starting point for both Kirchinger and Siegel is always “seen”, which is further developed with the means of art – as if the artist wanted to penetrate to the essence of the respective space. Both are interested in distinctly geometric, man-made places. For example tennis courts, swimming pools, passageways or windows. No wonder, then, that the shape of the rectangle takes up a lot of space in this double show.
Both artists then move away from the seen, real places – but at different distances. Siegel’s works are representational, Kirchinger’s very abstract. But both question the depicted spatiality, constructing new places from set pieces of reality, which sometimes appear more, sometimes less than illusion. What the works also have in common is that they are very precise in their design and rather subtle in their effect.
Although very different working methods meet in this show – namely painting and graphics – an intensive dialogue between the exhibits develops, a “fascinating interlocking”, as Angelika Oedingen, project manager on the part of the Kunstverein, says. “I keep seeing parallels and wonderful perspectives.” In this respect, the decision not to spatially separate the two groups of works in the old distillery was absolutely correct. Incidentally, this is the third time that these two artists have exhibited together.
The painting is by Melanie Siegel, born in Freiburg im Breisgau in 1978. She studied at the Art Academy in Munich, where she was a master student of Karin Kneffel. Siegel works in both acrylic and oil in both small and large format, her excellent technique creating the illusion of a photograph. The strictly composed images sometimes show the world from the first-person perspective, but mostly from above. A modern point of view that makes one think of drones and thus already contributes to the alienation.
Melanie Siegel discovered this “house ring” in France. However, the original is in a city, not in the forest.
(Photo: Peter Hinz-Rosin)
You can see skyscrapers, tennis courts, pools or seating areas again – but Siegel’s places are always surrounded by dark green, a strong contrast to the geometry of the motifs. Sharp shadows and the lack of all realistic details – there is no ball, no towel, no leaf on the floor here – make these scenarios appear unreal, like deserted stages. In this way, Siegel’s paintings oscillate between appealing aesthetics and threatening uncertainty.
Christina Kirchinger only needs black, gray and white to go into depth.
(Photo: Peter Hinz-Rosin)
The graphic works, on the other hand, show the handwriting of Christina Kirchinger. Born in Straubing in 1987, she studied fine arts and aesthetic education at the University of Regensburg. She is currently doing her doctorate there with Birgit Eiglsperger in the field of work analysis/art theory. Kirchinger always works in small format and with various printing processes such as aquatint or etching. Thanks to this, she succeeds in giving even surfaces a grainy, three-dimensional quality.
The filigree representations always remain enigmatic, one can assume walls, doors, curtains, stacked books or fences. Kirchinger’s pictures are dedicated to supposedly inconspicuous places, whose great aesthetic potential they reveal. The somewhat older works show even stronger contrasts between black and white, and they also look a little more like they were painted. However, more recent exhibits show that Kirchinger continues to reduce her art, leaving delicate spatial skeletons that question the three-dimensionality in an exciting way. Where does this depth lead?
Melanie Siegel/ Christina Kirchinger: “Yonder”, exhibition at Ebersberger Kunstverein, Old distillery in the monastery building yard, vernissage on Friday, July 15, at 7 p.m., finissage and artist talk on Sunday, August 7, at 4 p.m. Opening hours: Friday 6 p.m. to 8 p.m., Saturday and Sunday 2 p.m. to 6 p.m. Admission is free.