Genoveva Filipovic at Kölnischer Kunstverein

Artist: Genoveva Filipovic

Exhibition title: Bridge of Sigh

Venue: Kölnischer Kunstverein, Cologne, Germany

Date: March 27 – May 23, 2020

Photography: all images copyright and courtesy of the artist and Kölnischer Kunstverein

At the time of writing this text, it cannot be assumed that visitors will be able to enter the Kölnischer Kunstverein, Die Brücke, in the near future and that the exhibition Bridge of Sigh will find any audience at all. Genoveva Filipovic’s exhibition will possibly be seen only from outside.

“…If some ill luck forced him to speak, he managed to say only the most ridiculous things. Worse yet, he saw how absurdly he was behaving, and then exaggerated it still further; but what he did not see was the expression in his eyes; they were so beautiful and revealed such a fervent soul that, just as a good actor does, they gave charming significance to words that had none… he never said anything worth saying except when, distracted by some unforeseen event, he wasn’t trying to turn a well-phrased compliment.”

Stendhal, The Red and the Black
Concept
I made cactuses and placed them in a row.
After this work was completed, I changed the facial expression of each cactus so that, I thought, it might elicit a sigh.
When that proved too difficult, I did this: I claimed that I was changing the facial expression of each cactus so that, I thought, it might elicit a sigh. But I inserted smiles instead.

Then I try to imagine how it would be to ‘act out’ this scene.

Very Ralph
The Artist wants no Erklärungsbrücken

Genoveva Filipovic (*1986 in Frankfurt am Main) lives in New York and currently in Cologne. She studied at the HfG in Offenbach am Main and at the Hochschule für Bildende Künste – Städelschule in Frankfurt am Main (until 2013). Her works have recently been shown at Galleria Federico Vavassori in Milan (2019), Kunsthalle Zurich (2019), Goton in Paris (2018), Dead Ends in New York (2016), Vilma Gold in London (2016), and Neue Alte Brücke in Frankfurt am Main (2014).

Genoveva Filipovic: Bridge of Sigh, 2021. Installation view Kölnischer Kunstverein, 2021. Courtesy: the artist. Photo: Mareike Tocha