regret, remorse, sacrifice, 2013
Tatjana Bergelt: Slices of Life
Serbian Consulate
62 West 45th Steet, 7th floor
June 26 - July 17, 2014, Hours: Monday - Friday, 10-4
Tatjana Bergelt seems to be
searching for the essence of existence – the connecting tissues that verify reality
in an increasingly complex world. To this end, she sets up tensions between
images and words, bodies and shapes, figure and ground, reminiscent of Cubist collage
and Dada photomontage. These various
types of collages are arresting in their beauty. However, for all their visual delicacy (like
gossamer-woven dreams), they resonate with disturbing pain and sadness as ghostly
visions of dissonance.
Take, for example, regret, remorse, sacrifice (2013), a
poetic vision of the human hand, bound by several multi-colored strands of yarn
or thread, made inert and useless. The words “regret,” “remorse,” and
“sacrifice” are almost imperceptible – so tiny and delicate – as if they are
subconscious ruminations, discarded along seams and the margins. This collage
seems to address the feminist struggle between duty and desire, the constraints
that curtail a woman’s true self-actualization. The hand looks aged, puffy with
excess work, probably at a stage in life when regrets come to pass.
ihmenin - mensch
shortsighted
ihminen-mensch [human]
and shortsighted feature female
figures clothed in late nineteenth-century or early twentieth-century fashion –
the former appears rather “modern” in her hat, blouse and skirt, resting her
left arm on a lectern; the latter sits in a typical Victorian pose, dignified in
her high-collared frock. Yet, both
bodies dissolve softly into transparent planes of flat abstraction, their faces
obliterated by the title’s text. Again,
we might consider a feminist concern with marginalizing women through
psychological self-destruction.
Power-grid
Once more vulnerable, a young woman confronts five
policemen in power grid. The words “self inflicted division” overlap
and interact across the blurred uniforms of this contemporary riot squad. The young lady, photographed in profile,
looks from the extreme left side of the composition to the right, where a
depicted image of a helmeted policeman meets her gaze. The atmosphere is fraught with tension and
fear. What will become of this militant
encounter between one female civilian and five male cops? Dozens and dozens of lines drawn in bright or
light hues energize the surface. The
combination of elements feels highly-charged.
Again, we consider existential vulnerability.
Slices of Life, 2014
Bergelt said: “The very fundamental basis for my
philosophy is we are all more similar than different. We are all afraid of death, eager to live,
somehow more or less conscious, eager to love, to be loved.” It is this awareness of universals that
brings such potency to her art.
Tatjana Bergelt was born in East Berlin in 1966. Educated
in Germany, Estonia, France, and Spain, she now calls Finland her family home. According
to her interviews and writing, she considers herself a collage, a product of
various cultural elements that intersect and overlap in numerous ways. Bergelt’s
work reflects her multinational existence and rigorous training, which has
produced a high-caliber of artistic expression.
But it is her provocative subject matter that captures our attention. Quietly
powerful and elegantly rendered, Bergelt dares to confront us with our secret
anxieties and existential concerns.
Color Theory, 2014
Mrs. Bergelt’s work belongs to many illustrious
permanent collections, most notably the New York Public Library, New York; Staatsbibliothek,
Berlin, Germany; Amos Anderson Art Museum, Helsinki, Finland; Centre Georges
Pompidou, Paris, France; Helsinki City Library, Finland; and Bibliothèque
Nationale, Luxemburg.
The exhibition was co-curated by Zoran Budimlija and yours truly. Please feel free to make an appointment with me to see the exhibition at the Serbian Consulate. I would be delighted to discuss the work with you. nyarts.exchange@verizon.net
Beth New York
aka Beth S. Gersh-Nesic
Director
