Galerie Emanuel Layr and SPERLING have jointly organized a group exhibition featuring the international artists Lena Henke, Dominique Knowles, and Megan Francis Sullivan. Drawing on art historical narratives, materials, and techniques—which they twist and “queer”—each artist, in his or her own way, makes reference to a complex present that is very much infused by its past.

Megan Francis Sullivan questions the specific meaning of works of art in their respective temporal and local contexts by producing copies and variations, thereby enabling ambiguous perspectives on them. In contrast, Lena Henke refers to the canon of twentieth-century male artists, designers, and architects and connects their concepts and work to stereotypical feminine themes to pose questions about what female subjectivity and artistic practice could look like today. Dominique Knowles, who mainly uses natural earthy colors for his large-format paintings, is interested in the primeval cultural practice and early art form of cave painting that bore witness to the way in which animals and the natural world were revered by both men and women.

Lena Henke, Dominique Knowles, Megan Francis Sullivan
12/09/20 – 17/10/20
Opening
11/09/20