ExhibitionMarch 17, 2023
Karen Lamassonne at the KW Institute for Contemporary Art
The Colombian American artist Karen Lamassonne (1954) presents the exhibition Ruido / Noise at the KW Institute for Contemporary Art. This is her first solo exhibition in Europe, thanks to the support of the Swiss Institute, New York, and the Museo de Arte Moderno de Medellín - MAMM. The show brings together paintings, drawings, collages, and videos created from 1974 till today.
Many of Lamassonne's works are set in domestic spaces such as bathrooms, bedrooms, kitchens, and hallways, such as her first series of watercolors entitled Baños (Bathrooms) (1978 - 81). The artist has described this series of paintings as self-portraits, although they show female figures from the shoulders down or from behind. Lamassonne plays with the notion of self-portraiture and re-presentation by concealing and, simultaneously, revealing something of herself.
In 1984 the artist made Ruido (Noise), a series shown for the first time during the itinerant exhibition. The works consist of television screens that emit "noise" and illuminate the paintings installed around them, representing parts of a woman's body.
The exhibition also includes works such as Homenaje a Cali (Homage to Cali) (1989), since Lamassonne was linked to the Grupo de Cali (Cali Group) between the 1970s and 1980s, where she worked in film productions such as Pura Sangre (1982) directed by Luis Ospina. In Homenaje a Cali (Homage to Cali), the artist evokes the tensions between intimacy and sex in public spaces. The series shows the importance of cinematography in her work.
The exhibition includes postcards that Lamassonne reviewed since 2019 and that she expanded as surrealist images thanks to the lockdown of 2020. At the same time, in recent years, she has made drawings and sculptures of "hairy" or "monstrous" hands, which recall costumes in which the artist worked for film productions.
Many of Lamassonne's works are set in domestic spaces such as bathrooms, bedrooms, kitchens, and hallways, such as her first series of watercolors entitled Baños (Bathrooms) (1978 - 81). The artist has described this series of paintings as self-portraits, although they show female figures from the shoulders down or from behind. Lamassonne plays with the notion of self-portraiture and re-presentation by concealing and, simultaneously, revealing something of herself.
In 1984 the artist made Ruido (Noise), a series shown for the first time during the itinerant exhibition. The works consist of television screens that emit "noise" and illuminate the paintings installed around them, representing parts of a woman's body.
The exhibition also includes works such as Homenaje a Cali (Homage to Cali) (1989), since Lamassonne was linked to the Grupo de Cali (Cali Group) between the 1970s and 1980s, where she worked in film productions such as Pura Sangre (1982) directed by Luis Ospina. In Homenaje a Cali (Homage to Cali), the artist evokes the tensions between intimacy and sex in public spaces. The series shows the importance of cinematography in her work.
The exhibition includes postcards that Lamassonne reviewed since 2019 and that she expanded as surrealist images thanks to the lockdown of 2020. At the same time, in recent years, she has made drawings and sculptures of "hairy" or "monstrous" hands, which recall costumes in which the artist worked for film productions.
