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Story by Jack Foley |
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"ANTJE Majewski uses photography both as a starting point and
a reference point, but also, in a sense, as a sketch that produces a visible
approximation of an imagined painting”. Peter Pakesch, “Antje
Majewski”, solo show, Kunsthalle Basel, 2001.
LONDON-based arts gallery, aspreyjacques, is presenting Antje Majewski’s
second solo show in London, entitled Crystal Palace and The Dinosaurs,
until February 22, 2003.
Born in Germany in 1968, Majewski now lives and works in Berlin but for her
show at aspreyjacques, she will present two large format works on canvas that
form an ambiguous narrative.
As is often the case with the artist’s work, the precise link between
the paintings is left incomplete, as each painting contains an element that
unbalances its apparent ordinariness. It is this uncertainty, according to
the aspreyjacques website, which leaves the viewer to ‘complete’
the story.
In her painting Entrance to the Crystal Palace (240 x 380 cms), two
girls are seen standing in front of one giant Sphinx statue, the sole remnants
of the legendary Crystal Palace originally built for the Great Exhibition
of 1851 in Hyde Park. The palace was then moved to Sydenham Hill where Majewski
saw two girls visiting this relic that was once the ultimate 'amusement park'
of the British Empire.
A couple of hours later Majewski spotted the same two girls eating in the
greasy spoon cafe in the park. As seen in the second painting, Dinosaurs
(190 x 200 cms), the girls are seated in front of a naive mural depicting
the palace grounds. The park in which Crystal Palace was originally sited
included the first ever recreation of prehistoric life, an epoch defining
event.
Antje Majewski’s recent solo exhibitions include L’invitation au
voyage at the Kunsthalle Basel (2001). She was an artist in residence at Delfina
Studios in London 2000/2001.
Teenage Pantomime, (published by aspreyjacques) an artist's book by Antje
Majewski and her sister, Ulrike, is also available through Art Data, email:
liana@artdata.co.uk
aspreyjaques, 4 Clifford Street, London, W1. Tel: 020 7287 7675. Gallery
hours: Tuesday - Friday, 10am - 6pm, and Saturday, 10am - 1pm.