Anne Wenzel. I can’t believe I still have to protest this shit

With her sculptures and installations, Anne Wenzel explores symbols of power. Her raw sculptures of glazed ceramics question the meaning of beauty, heroism, wealth and ownership. Strength and vulnerability go hand in hand, also in this new exhibition. AKINCI shows female busts in the setting of a total installation as Wenzel presented earlier this year at Museum Jorn in Denmark. At the opening, renown author, journalist and moderator Tracy Metz will talk with the artist about her work. Prior to the opening at AKINCI and focusing on mutual aspects shared by both artist, Tracy Metz will also introduce Kathe Burkhart's new show at Lumen Travo Gallery.

The title I can’t believe I still have to protest this shit refers to the feminist aspect of Anne Wenzel’s new body of work. These Women are in the prime of their lives, they are not young, not old - they are Under Construction. They are powerful and classic, eternally combative but damaged as their faces and chests are scarified revealing incised texts of fury and provocation. Make War, I am my own prophet, Resistance, Fuck your morals and Virgin stand not as victims, but as victors on their pedestals. Wenzel built these sculptures from nothing but clay and finally ‘mutilated’ them with a chisel. For the occasion of this exhibition, Wenzel will ‘paint’ the white walls of the gallery with super soakers and water balloons.

Previously Anne Wenzel produced a series of busts of men, under the overall title Damaged Goods. In these sculptures she combined the representative and heroic of war with its opposite side: mutilation and damage. The artist: "With busts, heroes are honoured, and in the course of history most busts have represented men, because history was written by men. Or at least, its points of reference. Women have often been important, but are associated with the less conspicuous things, soft skills, not things that you would erect a monument to. That is why I have now made a series of women. Still, the most artists in exhibitions are men. And even though there are many women working in museums, the highest functions are still mostly occupied by men. "

Deconstruction in general is not an unfamiliar working method for Anne Wenzel: "It is a way to find the balance. I believe there are two sides to everything in life: there is nothing that is only 'good'. There is always a dark side, a less pleasant side.” In Wenzel’s immersing installation at AKINCI powerful figures and an orgy of colour will blend into abstract architectural ceramic elements which will be dispersed into the space.

Anne Wenzel (1972, Schüttorf, Germany) studied at the Academy for Visual Arts and Design in Enschede (NL). Her work has been shown at leading art institutions in the world. Previous solo exhibitions were held in, among others, Princessehof Leeuwarden (2017); Rijksmuseum Twenthe (2015); TENT Rotterdam (curated by Daria de Beauvais, 2014); Villa Roth, Germany (2010); Museum Boijmans van Beuningen, Rotterdam (2010); Stedelijk Museum Den Bosch (2008); Kunstvereniging Diepenheim (2007); Buro Leeuwarden (2006) and The Agency, London (2006). Furthermore Wenzel took part in: Museum Jorn, Silkeborg, Denmark (2018);Triennial for Contemporary Art, Duffel (2018); Rijksmuseum Twenthe (2018); 60th Faenza prize, Faenza (2018); Stedelijk Museum, Schiedam (2017); 9th Gyeonggi International Ceramic Biennale, Korea (2017); Park de Oude Warande, Tilburg (2016); Bonnefantenmuseum Maastricht (2015); Hetjens Museum Düsseldorf (2015); Kunstmuseum Bornholm (European ceramic context, 2014); Stedelijk Museum 's Hertogenbosch (Collection Presentation, 2013); Stedelijk Museum Schiedam (Collection presentation, 2013); Carré St-Anne, Montpellier ('Sign of the time' curated by Richard Leydier, 2013); La Galerie des Galeries ('Into the Woods' curated by Daria de Beauvais); Fondation Ricard, Paris (2011); Shepparton Art Gallery award (2010), Stedelijk Museum for contemporary art, Ghent (2008) and Museum Boijmans van Beuningen, Rotterdam (2007). Her works are included in many public and private collections, including Museum Boijmans van Beuningen, Princessehof, Leeuwarden, Stedelijk Museum Schiedam, Stedelijk Museum Den Bosch, S.M.A.K Ghent, and Frac Auvergne. Wenzel is one of the artists filmed for the series 'Dutch Masters of the 21st Century'. Anne Wenzel lives and works in Rotterdam, NL.