Mariele Neudecker

The meaning of nature and landscape has changed – and their reception and visual representation have been infl uenced accordingly. As aesthetic subjects they are in a constant state of fl ux; to the same degree they, in turn, determine our perception. For this exhibition, Mariele Neudecker consistently pursues the endeavour to take landscape to the breaking point, especially in view of Romantic symbolism. Whereas in the past her work has revolved around atmospherically condensed mountain, lake and forest landscapes in glass display cases, now – under the title Faintly Falling Upon All the Living and the Dead, the artist ‘transplants’ life-size casts of trees into the gallery. The fi breglass sculptures are faithful reproductions of nature, lopped at a height of four metres and robbed of both their crowns and their needles. Especially against the background of the second gallery installation Kindertotenlieder, layers of association form: the tree as a symbol of life. It is not without reason that a tree is customarily planted on the occasion of a child’s birth. Its leafl ess counterpart, however, can be understood as a visual manifestation of mortal fear. At the same time, Mariele Neudecker makes a statement on the role of contemporary sculpture. The small area of forest fl oor upon which the trees are positioned like columns on a base is cut on all four sides in such a way as to expose the material and the artistic method of reproduction to view. ‘Faintly Falling Upon All the Living and the Dead’ refers to the monumental and permanent installationen ‘This Thing Called Darkness’ by Mariele Neudecker, which will be presented at the Towada Art Centre, Towada (Japan) April 2008. Part Two of the exhibition consists of two small models and a room which can be physically entered by the viewer. They emerged from Mariele Neudecker’s preoccupation with Gustav Mahler’s ‘Kindertotenlieder’, meditations on the death of children. Mahler chose them from a series – bear