LOTHAR HEMPEL
FREITAG DER 13.
March 13 to May 30, 2020
FREITAG DER 13. (amateur / amateurin)
Plot
- in 1958 at camp crystal lake
- to have sex
- twenty-one years later
- the transient and the disjointed
- young boy who drowned
Emma Stern: ‘Your new exhibition is titled “Friday the 13th”, which brings to mind superstition and misfortune. What does the title mean, and isn't it absolutely crazy to give an exhibition this title? Aren’t you downright provoking misfortune?’
Lothar Hempel: ‘Actually, the exhibition should have had an entirely different title: “IL MIO NOME É NESSUNO”. A really good one! It would have alluded to the Mediterranean, film and sound, wanderings and departures, friendships and defeats, cunning, deception, and invisible nights—motifs that I am quite concerned with at the moment and which also crop up in the exhibition. But unfortunately, that was not possible, because it almost transformed me into a mirrored turtle! So instead I chose a date as the opening is in fact on a Friday the 13th.’
- poisoned water in 1962
- unseen person
- her throat
- contextual horizon
- fresco
14 days later. Emma Stern dictates: ‘I am standing alone here in an empty, primitive wooden hut, a kind of scenery by a lake. By way of trial, paintings by Lothar are hanging on the walls; they will probably also be on show in Berlin at a later stage. The formats are rather small; the colours resemble those of frescoes, light and almost pastel, very outmoded. The pictures are cool and unapproachable, seemingly far away and hermetic, and yet sentimental and intimate. There is an escapist element here, but it remains impalpable... I wonder whether these paintings are really intended as paintings?’
- an arrow
- a thunderstorm approaches
- it details in elegant restraint
- have sex
- vintage operation
Emma Stern on the phone: ‘I received a postcard from Lothar today. It is not clear from where it was sent. On the front is an elephant with painted ornaments; it is walking through a fortress. A kind of platform with an image of a woman wearing a fox mask is strapped onto the elephant’s back. This might be a festive parade or some other ritual. A carnival? But maybe it’s a work by Lothar, or something that inspires him to produce a work, or something that he wishes were one of his works.’
- lights turn on
- indifference
- works continuously framed and reframed
- phones disconnected
- the cars inoperable
February 17, one month before the exhibition. Emma Stern in conversation with Lothar Hempel.
Emma Stern: ‘The installation that you are making for the main room of the gallery is called “Les Amateurs”. One can see a yak, a bird of prey, and the actress Anne Wiazemsky who is wrapped in fur. They stand on a raft as if to embark on an endless journey. What is the message of this work?’
Lothar Hempel: ‘The image of Anne Wiazemsky is interesting. It possibly stems from the lost film “IL SEME DELL’UOMO” by Marco Ferreri. Anyway, I received the image from a friend, and it stimulated me to imagine the plot of the film and to fantasise. I think that this woman (Anne) turns into an animal in protest against humanity. She refuses, and humans go extinct. Later she wanders the world alone and befriends wild animals, trees, and stones. In the end, they (the amateurs) set off on a final great journey into the unknown’.
Emma Stern: ‘Then your sculpture is similar to a fictitious film’s poster?’
Lothar Hempel: ‘The sculpture marks a threshold; it is a crossing you can use.’
Emma Stern: ‘An opening in the room? A connection between different spheres? A dissolution?’
Lothar Hempel: ‘Possibly a tool, something really tangible! A prayer!’
- at the shore
- only to be remembered
- oral friend
- decapitates
- sailor nobody
The Year of the Rat. Berlin.
Emma Stern: ‘When I now walk through Berlin—I haven’t been here for years—it’s shocking to see how quickly things disappear, how the city changes. It brings tears to my eyes.’
Lothar Hempel: ‘It’s like that everywhere. The whole world is in rapid motion, dissolving, evaporating, disappearing—which is understandable! Nevertheless, I have the feeling that everything simultaneously stagnates. As if we humans were paralysed, awaiting something.’
Emma Stern: ‘How can one continue to make art at the moment? I know that’s a question that has probably been asked throughout history. Probably it’s precisely the wrong question because art is not a commentary on time.’
Lothar Hempel: ‘Exactly, I believe that art creates something like time in the first place.’
Emma Stern: ‘You’re one of the few people I know who always believes in art, who always defends it. That’s pleasant, but also a little... Why do you stick so firmly to this construct? Wouldn’t it be important to concentrate on something new now, something that can replace art? Wouldn’t it be incredibly liberating after a hundred thousand years to say: that’s enough, art! Now comes something else! What do you think? Why?’
- to forgoe a broader narrative
- old boy
- imitation of
- she awakens inside
- at peace
"They seem to contantly transform into different attributes, to construct new forms of narrative. All over the exhibition there are new stories beginning and moving in various directions directions. These processes are intentionally out of my control. But perhaps they have something in common: they contain a gesture of negation, they avert the sun, they outwit gravity, it is masquerade and deception."
– Lothar Hempel, in: Lothar Hempel. Alphabet City, Le Magasin – Centre National d'Art Contemporain de Grenoble, Zurich 2007.
stranded, 2020
Acrylic and pencil on aluminium
100 x 80 cm / 39 x 32 in
Signed verso: Lothar 2020
The work describes a feeling – the feeling of being stranded on a lonely island. Hempel contrasts the isolation and helplessness of the situation with a self-confident and determined woman who seems to defy the situation. The posture and expression of the figure are reminiscent of portraits of Marie Laurencin and draw parallels to pictorial patterns of classical modernism. Body and tree determine the centre of the picture and enter into a kind of symbiosis.
Il mio nome è nessuno, 2020
Acrylic and pencil on aluminium
60 x 55 cm / 24 x 22 in
Signed verso: Lothar 2020
Il mio nome è nessuno (My name is nobody) refers both to the myth of Ulysses and to the movie of the same name by Sergio Leone from 1973. The title is a play on words and at the same time a juxtaposition of different narratives. The contradictory statement loses its origin when the phrase is repeated over and over again. Hempel creates here through the title a meta-level that goes beyond what is shown. The portrayed woman is shown here with a striking headdress, which makes one think of military helmets or even Prussian pimple caps. Thus, a strong masculine attribute is added to the otherwise delicate appearance, as it was usual in allegorical depictions. At the same time, the props-like headgear draws parallels to the theatre and thus turns the figure into a stage actress. Artistic references in the impression can also be found in the early works of Pierre Klossowksi and the French abstraction of the 1950s.
Les Amateurs, 2020
Archive Ink on Alu Dibond, wood, rope, metal, mimosa
263 x 330 x 38 cm / 104 x 130 x 15 in
Certificate signed by the artist
The installation shows a fur-covered woman, who seems to be standing behind an animal, which in turn is positioned on a raft made of real wooden beams. The flower-decorated pack animal is accompanied by a bird of prey hovering above the group. Les amateurs could also be the title of a movie. In fact, it refers to the person depicted, who is part of the installation. It is the French actress Anne Wiazemsky (1947 – 2017), who can be seen here accompanied by the yak. Associations with mythological creatures are awakened and reinforced by the depiction on a raft made of wooden beams – similar to the raft of the Medusa. Anne Wiazemsky got her first leading role in the movie Au hasard Balthazar in 1966. According to director Robert Bresson, she was chosen for the role because she has "an aura of innocence that you won't find in any actor, only in a layman". This innocence is reflected both in the title Les amateurs and in the immediate portrayal of the young actors during a shooting break. With this installation Hempel continues his longstanding practice of mixed media assemblage, in which the artist combines different thematic fields - mostly film, poetry and mythology - to create a new whole.
Im Jahr der Ratte, 2020
Acrylic and pencil on aluminium
80 x 100 cm / 32 x 39 in
Signed verso: Lothar 2020
Im Jahr der Ratte (In the year of the rat) alludes to the Chinese calendar and the associated signs of the zodiac. Through the connection to the calendar time, the work is located in the present. The figures – although strangely timeless in appearance – are thus images of our time and stand directly opposite the viewer. The depiction of the double portrait echoes Picasso's blue and pink period and thus draws a link to classical modernism. At the same time Hempel refers to antique models through the classical posture of the figures and the elaboration of the painting - especially the fresco-like fraying of the paint in the lower part of the picture.
Vision einer Vision (Vision of a Vision), 2020
Watercolour and pencil on Bristol cardboard
20,5 x 29 cm / 8 x 11 in
Signed verso: Lothar 2020
The aquarelle shows a fantastic representation of dreams. Figures, which are colourfully dressed, seem to orient themselves by a superior being. While the three appearances on the right are shown in profile, the magical creature on the left looks directly at the observer. Through the mystical depiction the aquarelle evokes associations with ancient and cultic rituals without referring to specific references. Here Hempel creates a metaphysical dream world that meanders between vision, history and fashion.
Further available works
BAQ, 2020
Acrylic and pencil on aluminium
60 x 55 cm / 24 x 22 in
Signed verso: Lothar 2020
HANA, 2020
Acrylic and pencil on aluminium
60 x 55 cm / 24 x 22 in
Signed verso: Lothar 2020
ZEFYR, 2020
Acrylic and pencil on aluminium
60 x 55 cm / 24 x 22 in
Signed verso: Lothar 2020
Ciliciaka, 2020
Acrylic and pencil on aluminium
60 x 55 cm / 24 x 22 in
Signed verso: Lothar 2020
Ty, 2020
Acrylic and pencil on aluminium
60 x 55 cm / 24 x 22 in
Signed verso: Lothar 2020
Freitag der 13., 2020
Acrylic and pencil on aluminium
60 x 55 cm / 24 x 22 in
Signed verso: Lothar 2020
CONTEXTUAL HORIZON, 2020
Watercolour and pencil on light cardboard
20,5 x 29 cm / 8 x 11 in
Signed verso: Lothar 2020
Russisches Ballett (Russian Ballet), 2020
Watercolour and pencil on light cardboard
20,5 x 29 cm / 8 x 11 in
Signed verso: Lothar 2020
Reiter am Strand (Riders On The Beach), 2020
Watercolour and pencil on light cardboard
20,5 x 29 cm / 8 x 11 in
Signed verso: Lothar 2020
About the artist
Photo by Oliver Mark
Lothar Hempel, born 1966 in Cologne, lives and works in Berlin. Using various media (sculpture, painting, installation, video, performance), Hempel merges the abstract and the figurative in dramatic, stage-like arrangements. Contradictions and cross-references to society, history and psychology as well as other media systems, such as theatre, dance and film, are a crucial part of the works. Hempel also considers his sculptural constellations to be narrative machines into which the viewers are drawn to fill them with their imagination. FREITAG DER 13. is the artist's first solo exhibition with Mehdi Chouakri.
Works by Hempel have been presented in solo exhibitions, i.a. at Anton Kern Gallery, New York (2020), Modern Art, London (2018), ITALIC, Berlin (2018), Public Art Fund, New York (2015), The Kitchen, New York (2014), Art:Concept, Paris (2012), OSL contemporary, Oslo (2009), Douglas Hyde Gallery, Dublin (2008), Centre National d'Art Contemporain, Grenoble (2007), Institute of Contemporary Arts London (ICA), London (2002), and at the Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam (1998). Furthermore, the artist has participated in numerous group exhibitions, i.a. at the Santander Art Gallery, Madrid (2020), Centre Pompidou, Paris (2017), Centre d'art contemporain, Meymac (2013), Barbican Art Gallery, London (2008), ZKM Zentrum für Kunst und Medientechnologie, Karlsruhe (2007), The Saatchi Gallery, London (2006), and the Galleria d'Arte Moderna di Bologna (1999).
LOTHAR HEMPEL
FREITAG DER 13.
March 13 to May 30, 2020
FREITAG DER 13. (amateur / amateurin)
Plot
- in 1958 at camp crystal lake
- to have sex
- twenty-one years later
- the transient and the disjointed
- young boy who drowned
Emma Stern: ‘Your new exhibition is titled “Friday the 13th”, which brings to mind superstition and misfortune. What does the title mean, and isn't it absolutely crazy to give an exhibition this title? Aren’t you downright provoking misfortune?’
Lothar Hempel: ‘Actually, the exhibition should have had an entirely different title: “IL MIO NOME É NESSUNO”. A really good one! It would have alluded to the Mediterranean, film and sound, wanderings and departures, friendships and defeats, cunning, deception, and invisible nights—motifs that I am quite concerned with at the moment and which also crop up in the exhibition. But unfortunately, that was not possible, because it almost transformed me into a mirrored turtle! So instead I chose a date as the opening is in fact on a Friday the 13th.’
- poisoned water in 1962
- unseen person
- her throat
- contextual horizon
- fresco
14 days later. Emma Stern dictates: ‘I am standing alone here in an empty, primitive wooden hut, a kind of scenery by a lake. By way of trial, paintings by Lothar are hanging on the walls; they will probably also be on show in Berlin at a later stage. The formats are rather small; the colours resemble those of frescoes, light and almost pastel, very outmoded. The pictures are cool and unapproachable, seemingly far away and hermetic, and yet sentimental and intimate. There is an escapist element here, but it remains impalpable... I wonder whether these paintings are really intended as paintings?’
- lights turn on
- indifference
- works continuously framed and reframed
- phones disconnected
- the cars inoperable
February 17, one month before the exhibition. Emma Stern in conversation with Lothar Hempel.
Emma Stern: ‘The installation that you are making for the main room of the gallery is called “Les Amateurs”. One can see a yak, a bird of prey, and the actress Anne Wiazemsky who is wrapped in fur. They stand on a raft as if to embark on an endless journey. What is the message of this work?’
Lothar Hempel: ‘The image of Anne Wiazemsky is interesting. It possibly stems from the lost film “IL SEME DELL’UOMO” by Marco Ferreri. Anyway, I received the image from a friend, and it stimulated me to imagine the plot of the film and to fantasise. I think that this woman (Anne) turns into an animal in protest against humanity. She refuses, and humans go extinct. Later she wanders the world alone and befriends wild animals, trees, and stones. In the end, they (the amateurs) set off on a final great journey into the unknown’.
Emma Stern: ‘Then your sculpture is similar to a fictitious film’s poster?’
Lothar Hempel: ‘The sculpture marks a threshold; it is a crossing you can use.’
Emma Stern: ‘An opening in the room? A connection between different spheres? A dissolution?’
Lothar Hempel: ‘Possibly a tool, something really tangible! A prayer!’
- at the shore
- only to be remembered
- oral friend
- decapitates
- sailor nobody
The Year of the Rat. Berlin.
Emma Stern: ‘When I now walk through Berlin—I haven’t been here for years—it’s shocking to see how quickly things disappear, how the city changes. It brings tears to my eyes.’
Lothar Hempel: ‘It’s like that everywhere. The whole world is in rapid motion, dissolving, evaporating, disappearing—which is understandable! Nevertheless, I have the feeling that everything simultaneously stagnates. As if we humans were paralysed, awaiting something.’
Emma Stern: ‘How can one continue to make art at the moment? I know that’s a question that has probably been asked throughout history. Probably it’s precisely the wrong question because art is not a commentary on time.’
Lothar Hempel: ‘Exactly, I believe that art creates something like time in the first place.’
Emma Stern: ‘You’re one of the few people I know who always believes in art, who always defends it. That’s pleasant, but also a little... Why do you stick so firmly to this construct? Wouldn’t it be important to concentrate on something new now, something that can replace art? Wouldn’t it be incredibly liberating after a hundred thousand years to say: that’s enough, art! Now comes something else! What do you think? Why?’
- to forgoe a broader narrative
- old boy
- imitation of
- she awakens inside
- at peace
"They seem to contantly transform into different attributes, to construct new forms of narrative. All over the exhibition there are new stories beginning and moving in various directions directions. These processes are intentionally out of my control. But perhaps they have something in common: they contain a gesture of negation, they avert the sun, they outwit gravity, it is masquerade and deception."
– Lothar Hempel, in: Lothar Hempel. Alphabet City, Le Magasin – Centre National d'Art Contemporain de Grenoble, Zurich 2007.
stranded, 2020
Acrylic and pencil on aluminium
100 x 80 cm / 39 x 32 in
Signed verso: Lothar 2020
The work describes a feeling – the feeling of being stranded on a lonely island. Hempel contrasts the isolation and helplessness of the situation with a self-confident and determined woman who seems to defy the situation. The posture and expression of the figure are reminiscent of portraits of Marie Laurencin and draw parallels to pictorial patterns of classical modernism. Body and tree determine the centre of the picture and enter into a kind of symbiosis.
Il mio nome è nessuno, 2020
Acrylic and pencil on aluminium
60 x 55 cm / 24 x 22 in
Signed verso: Lothar 2020
Il mio nome è nessuno (My name is nobody) refers both to the myth of Ulysses and to the movie of the same name by Sergio Leone from 1973. The title is a play on words and at the same time a juxtaposition of different narratives. The contradictory statement loses its origin when the phrase is repeated over and over again. Hempel creates here through the title a meta-level that goes beyond what is shown. The portrayed woman is shown here with a striking headdress, which makes one think of military helmets or even Prussian pimple caps. Thus, a strong masculine attribute is added to the otherwise delicate appearance, as it was usual in allegorical depictions. At the same time, the props-like headgear draws parallels to the theatre and thus turns the figure into a stage actress. Artistic references in the impression can also be found in the early works of Pierre Klossowksi and the French abstraction of the 1950s.
Les Amateurs, 2020
Archive Ink on Alu Dibond, wood, rope, metal, mimosa
263 x 330 x 38 cm / 104 x 130 x 15 in
Certificate signed by the artist
The installation shows a fur-covered woman, who seems to be standing behind an animal, which in turn is positioned on a raft made of real wooden beams. The flower-decorated pack animal is accompanied by a bird of prey hovering above the group. Les amateurs could also be the title of a movie. In fact, it refers to the person depicted, who is part of the installation. It is the French actress Anne Wiazemsky (1947 – 2017), who can be seen here accompanied by the yak. Associations with mythological creatures are awakened and reinforced by the depiction on a raft made of wooden beams – similar to the raft of the Medusa. Anne Wiazemsky got her first leading role in the movie Au hasard Balthazar in 1966. According to director Robert Bresson, she was chosen for the role because she has "an aura of innocence that you won't find in any actor, only in a layman". This innocence is reflected both in the title Les amateurs and in the immediate portrayal of the young actors during a shooting break. With this installation Hempel continues his longstanding practice of mixed media assemblage, in which the artist combines different thematic fields - mostly film, poetry and mythology - to create a new whole.
Im Jahr der Ratte, 2020
Acrylic and pencil on aluminium
80 x 100 cm / 32 x 39 in
Signed verso: Lothar 2020
Im Jahr der Ratte (In the year of the rat) alludes to the Chinese calendar and the associated signs of the zodiac. Through the connection to the calendar time, the work is located in the present. The figures – although strangely timeless in appearance – are thus images of our time and stand directly opposite the viewer. The depiction of the double portrait echoes Picasso's blue and pink period and thus draws a link to classical modernism. At the same time Hempel refers to antique models through the classical posture of the figures and the elaboration of the painting - especially the fresco-like fraying of the paint in the lower part of the picture.
Vision einer Vision (Vision of a Vision), 2020
Watercolour and pencil on Bristol cardboard
20,5 x 29 cm / 8 x 11 in
Signed verso: Lothar 2020
The aquarelle shows a fantastic representation of dreams. Figures, which are colourfully dressed, seem to orient themselves by a superior being. While the three appearances on the right are shown in profile, the magical creature on the left looks directly at the observer. Through the mystical depiction the aquarelle evokes associations with ancient and cultic rituals without referring to specific references. Here Hempel creates a metaphysical dream world that meanders between vision, history and fashion.
Further available works
BAQ, 2020
Acrylic and pencil on aluminium
60 x 55 cm / 24 x 22 in
Signed verso: Lothar 2020
HANA, 2020
Acrylic and pencil on aluminium
60 x 55 cm / 24 x 22 in
Signed verso: Lothar 2020
ZEFYR, 2020
Acrylic and pencil on aluminium
60 x 55 cm / 24 x 22 in
Signed verso: Lothar 2020
Ciliciaka, 2020
Acrylic and pencil on aluminium
60 x 55 cm / 24 x 22 in
Signed verso: Lothar 2020
Ty, 2020
Acrylic and pencil on aluminium
60 x 55 cm / 24 x 22 in
Signed verso: Lothar 2020
Freitag der 13., 2020
Acrylic and pencil on aluminium
60 x 55 cm / 24 x 22 in
Signed verso: Lothar 2020
CONTEXTUAL HORIZON, 2020
Watercolour and pencil on light cardboard
20,5 x 29 cm / 8 x 11 in
Signed verso: Lothar 2020
Russisches Ballett (Russian Ballet), 2020
Watercolour and pencil on light cardboard
20,5 x 29 cm / 8 x 11 in
Signed verso: Lothar 2020
Reiter am Strand (Riders On The Beach), 2020
Watercolour and pencil on light cardboard
20,5 x 29 cm / 8 x 11 in
Signed verso: Lothar 2020
About the artist
Lothar Hempel, born 1966 in Cologne, lives and works in Berlin. Using various media (sculpture, painting, installation, video, performance), Hempel merges the abstract and the figurative in dramatic, stage-like arrangements. Contradictions and cross-references to society, history and psychology as well as other media systems, such as theatre, dance and film, are a crucial part of the works. Hempel also considers his sculptural constellations to be narrative machines into which the viewers are drawn to fill them with their imagination. FREITAG DER 13. is the artist's first solo exhibition with Mehdi Chouakri.
Works by Hempel have been presented in solo exhibitions, i.a. at Anton Kern Gallery, New York (2020), Modern Art, London (2018), ITALIC, Berlin (2018), Public Art Fund, New York (2015), The Kitchen, New York (2014), Art:Concept, Paris (2012), OSL contemporary, Oslo (2009), Douglas Hyde Gallery, Dublin (2008), Centre National d'Art Contemporain, Grenoble (2007), Institute of Contemporary Arts London (ICA), London (2002), and at the Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam (1998). Furthermore, the artist has participated in numerous group exhibitions, i.a. at the Santander Art Gallery, Madrid (2020), Centre Pompidou, Paris (2017), Centre d'art contemporain, Meymac (2013), Barbican Art Gallery, London (2008), ZKM Zentrum für Kunst und Medientechnologie, Karlsruhe (2007), The Saatchi Gallery, London (2006), and the Galleria d'Arte Moderna di Bologna (1999).