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Foreword Working with Veronika Neukirch you get a sense of depth, dimension and intensity that is often unseen through her cheerful demeanour and cool facade. With her attention to detail through works that dwell on the mundane and sacred, we found a voice that speaks of formality but thrives on being non-conformist, a dualism that is both seductive and intriguing. It is a quality that translates into her works: predominantly satiric, minimalist and conceptual paintings, sculptures and digital collages materialised by using simple irreverent imagery, industrial materials and everyday objects that seem to be insignificant items or novelties. Through her aesthetic sensibility, she transforms and reconfigures objects, that are generally taken for granted in our consumer driven over-entitled society, into artworks that inculcate a sense of sacred significance. Minut Init is proud and excited to host an artist who attempts to unearth a fresh perspective on our hybridised, absurd and fragmented culture. As she elegantly confronts the subject of nature and the artificial, exoticism, art history, commodification and romanticism in the subtlest of ways, shedding light on the irreverent absurdities inherent in our postmodern, globalised, internet-driven economy.
James Ly Director and Curator Minut Init Art Social. 2
‘Bananas is my Business’ (detail) Mixed media on canvas 104 x 104 x 3.5cm 3
In RIPEN AT HOME, Neukirch examines and celebrates the exotic while pointing out the fleetingness of this notion in the age of information and our increasingly digitised and globalised lives. Despite being based in Malaysia for almost two years, the country’s culture and customs are still somewhat exotic to the artist. Yet, it has to be acknowledged that in Malaysia, the artist herself as well as her work could also be seen as exotic. These circumstances have led to the main theme of the exhibition: the re-evaluation of the term and the everchanging meaning of exoticism, through an object-based approach. The focus lies on the prejudice-free curiosity for other cultures - the selection of exotic fruit as the main theme as apposed to exotic societies, politics or religions is not coincidental. Navigation towards necessary political correctness is apparent as well as the assimilation of several interconnected art historic leitmotifs from Still Life to Pop Art, Readymades, Assemblage and Post-Internet Art.
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Strange Fruits on Arches Plaster, spray paint, lacquer, paint; digital collage on synthetic paper 375 x 155 x 21cm
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“I am amazed that during my time in Malaysia, I encountered many things, I had never seen before. As a sculptor, especially the amazing colours and textures of the tropical fruits of Southeast Asia spoke to me. Not just the fruits themselves but also their presentation by merchants as well as their artificial representation in advertisements are inspiring.
Green Fruit on Paper Towel (detail) Silicon, plaster, DIY paste, watercolour, plaster, spray paint, PVA on digital collage 5 x 133 x 60cm 6
It is also fascinating to see national pride and many traditions so deeply embedded in perishable objects. It made me think more about the connotations of fruit and their visual attributes, which have evolved to be enticing as well as deterring. I have tried to reassemble and develop them for the fine art context.�
Big column with Purple & Green Fruits Silicon, plaster, DIY paste, watercolour, spray paint, PVA on fruit bowl, metal, lacquer, string curtain 156 x 85 x 60cm
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Small column with Yellow Fruit Silicon, DIY paste, watercolour, plaster, spray paint, PVA on fruit bowl, metal, lacquer, string curtain 97 x 70 x 35cm 8 8
Carmen Miranda (aka ‘the Lady in the Tutti Frutti Hat’) has been chosen as an avatar to present and communicate several messages. She was most popular in the 1930s & ‘40s and was the first Portuguese Brazilian performer in America to be honoured with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Known for her exotic beauty and cheeky attitude, the performer eventually created the stereotype of the Brazilian Bombshell. The images and small collaged cut-outs of Carmen Miranda function as a window to the past when we were less aware of other cultures, eras and styles than we are today due to their lingering presences through widely accessible media. Neukirch utilises Carmen’s intense joix de vivre, while hedonistically disregarding the impending commercialisation of her image and the change in zeitgeist that happened only a short time later. The enforced optimistic view, informed naivety, or childlike curiosity for the exotic permeates the whole body of work.
‘Bananas is my business’ (detail) Mixed media on canvas, digital photo frame, video stills 104 x 104 x 3.5cm 9
‘If it looked any fresher, it would still be on a tree’ 1, 2 & 3 Digital collage 29.7 x 42cm each 10
‘If it looked any fresher, it would still be on the tree’ 4 (detail) Digital collage 29.7 x 42cm 11
‘Bananas is my business’ Mixed media on canvas, digital photo frame, video stills 104 x 104 x 3.5cm 12 12
Apples & Pineapples Mixed media on canvas, two artificial apples 90 x 223 x 8.5cm
‘Melonas – yeah’ Mixed media on canvas 104 x 90 x 3.5cm 13 13
Cyber Still Life 1 Digital collage 55.5 x 48cm 14
Cyber Still Life 2 Digital collage 55.5 x 48cm 15 15
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Table Wood, spray paint, glass plate, four artificial apples, fruit bowl, lacquer 104 x 90 x 90cm
Fresh FruitFlavours(stills) Video (19 sec) Dimensions variable 17
Lush 3 digital images Dimensions variable
The overall attitude of Neukirch’s process heavily leans on 1980s Remix culture, when the whole history of recorded music became available for resource extraction due to the availability of cheap samplers. She collides elements of foreign places with a different type of exoticism found in the past, thus hypothesising that ultimately, as we become increasingly aware of other cultures, only the past and the future will be exotic to us. With globalisation well on its way, in the artist’s lifetime the shift in perception of originally exotic items to the ordinary have been palpable. 18
Aesthetically both dated science fiction and digital realms have clearly been big influences – with a focus on the reuse value of past styles, icons, as well as everyday objects and everyday subjects. Consequently, this body of work blends the natural with the artificial; the past with Futurist views as well as the familiar with the exotic (for both Western and South East Asian viewers), situated at the beginning of a young century still obsessed with the past, made visible by the prevalent hyper-referentiality of postmodernism. 19
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As this is the artist’s first solo exhibition, its title expresses the acute awareness of the way young artists’ works – like not yet ripened fruit in the produce isle - are commonly seen as risky investments that demand the purchaser’s trust and patience. Tongue firmly in cheek, she points out that only the future will tell the true worth of any object. Certainty can only come with time as suggested by Walter Benjamin, ‘the critical potential of an object may only be unleashed at the very moment of its obsolescence’. 21
Veronika Neukirch was born in D端sseldorf in 1986 and grew up in Trier, Germany. She spent nine years living and working in London. She studied at the University of the Arts (UdK) in Berlin and at Central Saint Martins College in London, where she completed a Fine Art degree in 2013. She has been based in Kuala Lumpur since 2014 and has since been included in various international exhibitions, publications and Southeast Asian residencies. Education 2010-2013: BA Fine Art, Central Saint Martins, University of the Arts London 2012: University of the Arts Berlin UdK 2009-2010: Fine Art & Design Foundation, Central Saint Martins 22
Selected Exhibitions, Residencies etc. 2015: Elusive, Black Box, Publika, Kuala Lumpur ESC Residency, Empty Space Chiang Mai, Thailand Inner Visions, Minut Init, Petaling Jaya The Impact of Color, DVAA BGallery, New York 2014: International Artist in Residence, HOM (formerly House of Matahati), Kuala Lumpur Artist talk, UITM Kuala Lumpur 2013: Islington Contemporary Art Fair, Candid Arts Trust, London. UK METAMORPH (curator), The Hoxton Garage, London 2012: Rundgang, UdK Berlin Magic Assembly Magic Assemblage residency & exhibition, Petrie Museum of Egyptian Archaeology, University College London 2011: Trinity Buoy Wharf Residency, London Recent Press & Publications Make8elieve #8, USA & Switzerland IS-Magazine, Autumn Issue, UK Looking At Painting #1, 2014 Leeds, UK AtlasZine, Spain P I T C H, Australia http://veronikaneukirch.com/
Minut Init was founded on the 10th November 2010 by Dali Abdul Azis and James Ly with the intention of diversifying the artistic climate of Malaysia. Minut Init represents a select group of artists from the obscure to the esteemed, committed to introducing art from all mediums and in all media, who see art as a platform for experimentation and a means of interaction with society. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or archived without explicit prior consent from the artist and gallery. Catalogue © 2015 Minut Init Art Social, Petaling Jaya Artwork and Images © 2015 Veronika Neukirch This catalogue was published to accompany Veronika Neukirch’s solo exhibition entitled Ripen at Home at Minut Init Art Social from October 28th to November 11th 2015. 23
Š 2015 Minut Init Art Social 29B Jalan SS 21/37 Uptown Damansara Utama, Petaling Jaya, Selangor, Malaysia http://minutinit.com/
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