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Rosenfeld Porcini is proud to present A Fragile Existence, the inaugural UK solo
exhibition by German artist Silvia Hatzl.
The exhibition will showcase her sculptural clothing, distorted torsos and heads which explore the
illusion of clothing as a concealment of human nakedness. The premature ageing of the materials
and fabrics are subject to an unnatural decay which heightens their imperfect beauty. Displayed
across 3,000 square feet of gallery space, this exhibition follows on from her successful museum
show at Museum am Dom Wurzburg, Germany, this summer.
Silvia Hatzl creates sculptures which are often highly theatrical and resemble recognisable forms,
created from varying natural materials including linen, silk, cotton, paper and even animal
intestines. As a result the works often reveal, in part or in whole, a heightened sense of
transparency. The forms range from childlike in their scale to far larger than life, so that an
installation of her work echoes a silent, ethereal group of living people.
All of the sculptures, due to the materials used, retain their natural creases and lines. Many of
Hatzl’s works also reveal a great painterliness with the clothes often speckled with rust or
pigment. Sometimes she applies sand, ashes or mortar to emphasise the richness and beauty of
her carnal forms. Delicate to touch, they are silent performers.
Ian Rosenfeld, Director of the gallery, describes the unique poetic resonance behind her work:
“We stare at these absent figures and we reflect on our own ultimate fragility in the world, not
merely the physical but far more profoundly, the emotional.”
Hatzl’s natural materials, although apparently solid, possess an extreme delicacy behind their
creation which retain the same sense of vulnerability present throughout all the exhibition works.
Silvia Hatzl will be performing a dance alongside her sculptures on the final day of the exhibition,
Thursday 7 March.
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