Eveline Feldmann
Spheres
Curated by Marion Wild
Dates: 11 Nov 04 - 28 Jan 05
C3 Gallery was pleased to present Eveline Feldmann’s first solo show in New York. Feldmann’s delicate installations,
fabricated from hundreds of used teabags, create novel spaces within existing rooms. Walking through the exhibition is like
visiting a whole architectural enterprise that happens within the space of a single room.
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For seven years the Swiss artist has collected teabags – a physical testament to the time she spent alone and with
friends. She painstakingly dries the thin paper and leaves, takes apart each teabag, irons the fragile material and sews it
into bands. A long and time-consuming process but, as she points out, there is no material more economical or more delectable.
Immediately upon entering the gallery, the viewer comes upon Passage, a gate of multicolored stripes, dyed by
the different types of tea, which draws one into the greater room. Here the visitor is invited to stay, to rest, to be at
ease – caught between the vision of the most ephemeral materials and the sense created by the artist of a permanent and
profound architecture fashioned from these very materials.
Umbrella is just that, an awning created by Feldmann to pull you into a new space and experience that are so
complete, you don’t think right away about moving on. Since you are inside already, the canopy, an architectural element that
usually provides shelter from the rain and wind at the entrance of a building, takes on a new meaning. Instead of protecting
us from the elements, this canopy offers us a respite from the turmoil of the heart and the passions of the human condition.
Skin consists of innumerable, thin fleeces forming a translucent plane. Like the skin that both separates and
connects the human body from and to its surroundings, the work divides the room without completely shutting out the sights
and sounds from the other side. The large membrane reacts quietly to every current of air stirred by the passing visitors,
as if it were alive and breathing.
Inspired by the shape of the medieval tent (a hexagon) in Piero della Francesco’s fresco in Arezzo, Feldmann created
Retreat (Constantine’s Dream). In the night before the decisive battle against Maxentius (ca. 310 A.D), so we are told,
an angel appeared before the Emperor Constantine and showed him the cross of Christ: “In hoc signo vinces (in this sign you
will win).” Piero della Francesco’s fresco shows the nocturnal scene before the battle. The tent is a fragile shelter and
Feldmann’s “Retreat”, which could be destroyed by a draught, offers spiritual rather than physical protection (in times of
cold confusion). With its ability to “interpret light, heat and cold” (Hugo Loetscher) it is a like a cocoon – fragile yet
endowed with the power to transform.
Eveline Feldmann offers us an architecture of the senses that alters our relation to the solid facts of the
architectural space that surrounds us. It is an architecture you can feel but that turns the traditional understanding
inside out. Standing under the canopy or at the gate you get a sense of the many hours and days the artist spent drinking
tea, living with the skins and transforming them. The process is slow and methodical, much like building a house but the
result, instead of being fixed and functional, suggests the cheerful possibility that reality can be transformed not
despite our vulnerability but because of it.
About the artist:
Born in Muri/Bern-Switzerland, living in New York City since 1999
Education
| 1990 |
Bern, Switzerland |
Atelier 5, Architekten und Planer Bern, Switzerland Federal License in Architectural Drafting and Design |
| 1994 |
Bern, Switzerland |
BFA Contemporary Art - Diplom Fachhochschule Freie Kunst, School of Design |
| 1996 |
Zürich, Switzerland |
Certificate
in Desktop Publishing - TypoDesign AG and Digicomp Zürich |
Solo Shows
| 2005* |
Zagreb, Croatia |
Galerija
Miroslav Kraljevic (Collaboration with Olja Stipanovic) |
| 2004-05 |
New York, USA |
C3: Gallery, Pompei A.D. - SPHERES (Curator, Marion Wild) |
| 2002 |
Bern, Switzerland |
Kabinett Gallery - YOU |
| 2000-03 |
Bern, Switzerland |
Swiss Federal Archives (Schweizerisches Bundesarchiv) - FINE PIECES |
| 1997-98 |
Bern, Switzerland |
Kiosk - YOU |
| 1996 |
Bern, Switzerland |
Fachstelle fur Gleichstellung von Frau und Mann der Stadt - Schutzraum (Womb) |
| 1994 |
Zürich, Switzerland |
Galerie 53. Therwil and Kunstecke Zypresse. Raum fur Neue
Kunst - SCHONRAUM |
| |
| |
|
* in planning |
Group Shows
| 2004 |
Flushing, NY |
Queens Theater in the Park |
| 2002/03/04 |
Long Island City, NY |
ARTLofts and Annex@Artlofts, Open Studios - PASSAGE |
| 2002 |
Queens, NY |
Federal Building for Social Security Administration - SKIN |
| 2001 |
New York, NY |
Nomades and Residents - I HEAR YOUR VOICE |
| |
Williamsburg, NY |
Gretsch No4 Artist colony, Open Studios - TRANS |
| 2000 |
Biel, Switzerland |
Centre PasquART, Aeschlimann-Corti Stipendium - FINE PIECES |
| 1999 |
Basel, Switzerland |
Art Messe, Stipendium Kiefer Hablitzel - SCRUBBIE |
| |
Bern, Switzerland |
Sustenpass and Alpines Museum, Gletscherzungenkuss - FLY OUT TO FREEDOM |
| 1998 |
Frauenfeld, Switzerland |
Shed im Eisenwerk Frauenfeld - SCHUTZ / FOR IT |
| |
Basel, Switzerland |
Art Messe, Stipendium Kiefer Hablitzel - YOU |
| |
Bern, Switzerland |
Tobleronemuseum, 12 Multiples - FINE PIECES |
| |
Bern, Switzerland |
Stadtgalerie, Ankaufe 1998 der Stadt Bern - SCHUTZRAUM |
| 1997 |
Langenthal, Switzerland |
Kunsthaus, Auswahl des Aeschlimann-Corti Stipendium |
| |
Bern, Switzerland |
Art Factory and Dreamlab - Neo Deo. Warum nicht Weihnachten - KRANZ (Wreath) |
| |
Bern, Switzerland |
Kunsthalle, Weihnachtsausstellung - SCHUTZRAUM |
| 1996 |
Orlando, Florida |
Orlando City Hall and Dampfzentrale Bern, Neo Deo. Warum nicht Weihnachten |
| |
Bern, Switzerland |
Kunsthalle, Weihnachtsausstellung - SCHUTZRAUM
(Guard/Protection) |
| 1995 |
Bern, Switzerland |
Galerie Barak - JET BILD |
| |
Orlando, FL |
Winter Park Mall, Open Studios, artMall # 26 |
| |
Bern, Switzerland |
Galerie Otaku, Warum nicht Weihnachten - SCHONKREIS |
| 1994 |
Bern, Switzerland |
Altes
Tramdepot (Kat.), Diplom Fachklasse Freie Kunst WBK |
| |
Steffisburg, Switzerland |
Kunstsammlung, Sommersymposium Dusseldorf-Thurn |
| |
Thun, Switzerland |
Kunstmuseum, Auswahl des AC Stipendium |
| |
Biel, Switzerland |
Centre PasquART, Das Fremde - DENKARBEIT (Brainteaser) |
| 1993 |
Muhledorf, Switzerland |
Galerie Bally, Fachklasse Freie Kunst - SCHLUEPFUNG |
| |
Thun, Switzerland |
Projekt Sprungturm, Dialog Kunst am Bau - OVERFLOW VALVES and COLLECTING SHELLS |
| |
Langenthal, Switzerland |
Kunsthaus, Auswahl des Aeschlimann-Corti Stipendium - INDIVIDUAL |
| 1992 |
Milan, Italy |
Milano Design Biennale, die Nomaden, i nomadi - TRANSMÖBEL |
Public Space Projects
| 2004 |
Bern, Switzerland |
FINDER - Sculpture Project, Grosse Schanze Bern (Bern University Public Space) |
| 2001 |
New York, NY |
THE RIDE - Group Performance on The Tram |
| 1999 |
Bern, Switzerland |
FLY OUT TO FREEDOM - Exhibition Project Gletscherzungenkuss Sustenpass and Alpines Museum |
| |
|
BELEBUNG - Kleine Schanze Bern (Garden of the Swiss Parliament House) |
| 1997-00 |
Biel, Switzerland |
ARRESTANTEN (Collaboration with Marc Schaffroth) - Project proposal for Swiss Expo 02 |
| 1997-98 |
Bern, Switzerland |
YOU - Art Installation at the Kiosk |
Artist Performance
Video Screenings
| 2003 |
New York, NY |
THE RIDE - Swissinstitute |
| 2002 |
Bern, Switzerland |
THE RIDE - V.I.D. Kulturhallen der Dampfzentrale Bern |
| 1999 |
Bern, Switzerland |
SCRUBBIE - Wesley Chappel |
Audio Exhibition
| 2001 |
New York, NY |
I HEAR YOUR VOICE |
Honors/Awards
| 2000 |
Award Stipendium
Aeschlimann/Corti. Bern Canton Competition |
| 1998, 2000 |
Grants Bern Canton and Bern City Art Council |
| 1999 |
Acquisitions Swiss Federal Archives |
| 1998 |
Acquisitions Bern City |
| |
Award Stipendium Kiefer Hablitzel. Swiss National Competition |
| 1997, 1995, 1994 |
Award Finalist Aeschlimann/Corti |
Contact Information
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