Rosemarie Trockel - Contemporary Art London Thursday, June 21, 2007 | Phillips

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  • Provenance

    Esther Schipper, Cologne

  • Literature

    Hans-Christian Dany, “Ich war eine Glocke” Afterall Magazine, issue no. 8, 2003, p. 64-67 (illustrated)

  • Catalogue Essay

    “Art is not what you see, it is in the gap”
    Marcel Duchamp

    Rosemarie Trockel started her knitting paintings and objects in the mid 8o’s . Since then they have probably become the most recognized, analyzed and exhibited objects of her work. Balaklava is one of the key works of this series and Trockel worked on the piece over a period of 4 years. The 5 knitted hats display Trockel’s interest in the emblematic exploitation of the phenomenon of mass production and seriality. Here, she continues the use of visual codes such as the cross, the playboy bunny and graphics loaded with historical reference. With these symbols however “what strikes the view is something else the phenomenon of pattering. Repeated to the limits the presented logos become not only apparent as symbols of an empty universe of merchandising but they begin to form a scheme which elevates the work itself to a stereotype.” (translated from German Ursula Sinnreich: ‘Loecher in Mustern: Wie Rosemarie Trockel den herrschenden Blick seziert’ in Du: die Zeitschrift der Kultur, April 2002, Nr. 725, p. 26.)

    With only the eyeholes revealing features of the wearer the woolen heads/ masks themselves might well be one of the most mystical and powerful stereotypes themselves. They bear oppositional functions such as protection or fear forces. They are bodies of disguise and hiding of transformation and revelations.

10

Balaklava

1986
Five woolen Balaclavas in cardboard boxes on wooden shelf.
Each box: 11 7/8 x 7 3/8 in. (30 x 20cm); Shelf: 13 3/8 x 49 1/8 x 11 7/8 in.(34 x 125 x 30 cm).
Each box stamped “BALAKLAVA R.TROCKEL 1986 ESTHER SHIPPER KÖLN” on the face.
This work is from an edition of 10 plus three artist’s proofs.

Estimate
£40,000 - 60,000 ‡♠

Sold for £114,000

Contemporary Art

22 June 2007, 4pm & 5pm
London