Anna Schachinger “Holderinnen”

Brennan & Griffin

[Image: Anna Schachinger "Bueglerinnen 3" (2018) Ink, oil and acrylic on linen 70 3/8 by 58 5/8 by 1 5/8 in.]

This event has ended.

The image was made just before women were burning and boats were sent from here to here without good intentions. It seems like the feline is about to die, but it’s a circle.

Brennan & Griffin is pleased to present Anna Schachinger’s Holderinnen, her first solo exhibition in New York City. In three paintings presented, women are depicted ironing large swaths of fabric, the very material used in the paintings’ construction. The figures flattened, and in positions of task conjure Italian Renaissance frescos and Mexican mural painting.

The following prose outlines the plot of the tableau:
The pattern unfolds on the ironing board of the women. Girl being carried by man, whatever. The ironers are much bigger than that, the fabric is being woven from different directions. Somebody is watching. Who still irons their bedsheets anyways? Just fold them up after drying. The room that lies between the cloth is the room to stand in.

In two other paintings, velvet and linen are sewn together and stretched, while gesso and ink sit unevenly on the textiles, forming an expressionist suture or hemorrhage that results in loose figurations. A series of smaller works are suspended from the ceiling. Their linen is scrunched and folded on the front and verso. These double-sided works blend the painted gesture with the fabric itself, and cue the viewer to careful inspection. Holderinnen’s power and hallmark is found in the fact that the materials are used to tell the story of the material. In unison, the construction of all the objects and images amplify their poetry and their poetry amplifies their construction.

Anna Schachinger lives and works in Vienna, Austria. She has studied at the Art Institute of Chicago and the Academy of Fine Arts in Vienna. Solo shows include Lost ln Thoughts, Fourteen30 Contemporary, Portland, OR, alles, Lulu, Mexico City, and white crocodile at fAN Kunstverein, Vienna. Her work has been included in group shows at Reyes Projects, Birmingham, husslehof, Frankfurt, Transition Gallery, London, Sullivan Galleries, Chicago, and Galerie Kunstbuero, Vienna. This is her first exhibition with the gallery.