Erika Hock at L21 Gallery

Artist: Erika Hock

Exhibition title: OO

Venue: L21 Gallery, Mallorca, Spain

Date: January 16 – March 6, 2019

Photography: all images copyright and courtesy of the artist and L21 Gallery, Mallorca

From their pupils of light, two circles stare at the viewer, thus providing the title, “OO,” for the first exhibition by Erika Hock at L21 Gallery. This series of sculptures, some of them newly made, stand out for their subtlety of the shapes in space, light as a sculptural material, and the harmony of color.

A chair in which it is not possible to sit suggests impossible, or at least really uncomfortable, body positions. The ideal and anonymous form, the instructions from Ikea, the eternal mould of mass production… in short, the Platonic idea of a chair is twisted in these works by Hock, which take as their reference the photo essay “Seeking comfort in an uncomfortable chair” (1944) by the Italian designer Bruno Munari. “One comes home tired after having worked all day and finds an uncomfortable chair…” Munari thus raises an uncomfortable question concerning the balance between aesthetics and functionality in furniture design, a question to which art can freely answer.

From this twisting of the idea of a chair, table or lamp, Hock speaks to us in a language that is no longer tied to functionality, about the relationship with space and the constant interaction of the body with everyday objects. The viewer is invited to explore the field of possibilities opened up in these works as our gaze is reflected back in the light of the works whose curiosity still shines.

Hock’s practice is characterised by the fluid crossover in between sculptural and architectural elements, as well as an extended interest in tapestries and furniture that investigates meeting points between history, society and culture.

Erika Hock (Dshangi-Dsher, Kyrgyzstan,1981) has been part of group exhibitions such as “Un-Scene III”, at Wiels, Brussels, “Skulptur” at Produzentengalerie, Hamburg, as well as solo exhibitions such as “Salon Tactile” at COSAR HMT, Düsseldorf, “Hotel Atlantik” at the Kunsthalle Lingen, “Second Home” at the Philara Collection, “What Bananas Say” in the Salzburger Kunstverein, or “The Seamstress, Her Mistress, the Mason and the Thief” in Tenderpixel Gallery, London.