Lara Schnitger "Two Masters and Her Vile Perfume"
SculptureCenter
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Two Masters and Her Vile Perfume is a highly theatrical sculptural installation featuring Schnitger's signature wood and fabric structures. Themes of metamorphosis, divinity, decay, and sadomasochism -- all of which have been present in Schnitger's past work -- will converge in an installation that will transform the SculptureCenter's central exhibition hall. The structure of the work is reminiscent of a medieval piazza or even a cathedral where adulation, commerce, and politics occupy the same space. The installation is populated by figurative forms that suggest demons, ghosts, businessmen, bikers and other more abstract forms.
The installation puts forward a type of gothic modernity and reflects the artist's recent reading of Charles Baudelaire and in particular his masterwork, Les Fleurs du Mal (1857). Les Fleurs du Mal (translated as Flowers of Evil) was Baudelaire's first and best known volume of poems. He was successfully prosecuted for offending public morals based on its themes of sex, death, lesbianism, and corruption. As an exile, an observer, and a Romantic materialist, Baudelaire is a kindred spirit to Schnitger whose work derives aesthetically from the cacophony and detritus of modern urban life.
Lara Schnitger was born in Haarlem, The Netherlands, in 1969, and lives and works in Los Angeles. Schnitger primarily makes sculpture, installation, and fabric collage but has also produced video, performance and sound works. She studied at the Koninklijke Academie van Beeldende Kunsten Den Haag, Netherlands (1987-91); Academie Vyvarni Umeni, Prague (1991-92); Ateliers, Amsterdam (1992-94); and Center for Contemporary Art, Kitakyushu, Japan (1999-2000).
Media
Schedule
from September 13, 2010 to November 29, 2010
Opening Reception on 2010-09-12 from 17:00 to 19:00