Veronika Veit: Suspension

About

Upstairs Berlin is pleased to present new works by Munich-based artist Veronika Veit in her fourth solo show with the gallery. The exhibition Suspension comprises new sculptural and video works in which Veit concentrates on the portrayal of girls and young women. Compared to earlier works, in which the artist showed scaled down human figures amazingly true to detail, she now turns to alienate her sculptures in an almost surreal manner. Bodies dissolve into bubbles, a figure raises from a foamy cloud, the facial expressions seem dreamy. The video Die Faust (The Fist) shows a scene in the illusive atmosphere of a childhood memory. Suspension, a state of uncertainty, is the conjoining moment of the works. A formal lightness derives from the dissolving and constantly changing forms. Apart from their minimized scale, the unique texture of the figures, the variation in materiality and treatment of surfaces disconnect them from reality. Many of Veit's works have little of a this-worldly presence and appear in a captivating state of weightlessness. The formal aspects of the figures reflect the emotional relations to the outside world. Veit's young girls and women find themselves in the uncertain state of adolescence. For her childhood and youth are no safe places, the apparently lightness and easiness quickly turns into instability and fragileness. The expectations and projections from their parents, social environment and the media often collide with their own wishes, hopes and aspirations. Yet Veit's works remain ambiguous, in an intangible state of suspension. For many years now the work of Veronika Veit (born 1968 in Munich) has been engaged with the human figure and through that discusses social structures and conditions. Alongside the sculptural works she also creates video art and works on paper. Her work is represented in renowned collections and she is regularly participating in institutional exhibitions both in Germany and abroad, most recently at CCA Andraxt, Mallorca, Spain and Bayerisches Nationalmuseum, Munich, Germany. Veronika Veit lives and works in Munich, Germany.