Sabine Hornig

Bonakdar Jancou Gallery is pleased to present its first presentation of work by Sabine Hornig in the gallery's project space. Entitled 'Window with Curtain,' the installation is comprised of a constructed, drywall facade that bisects the project space and features a single, large window affixed with a transparent image. The window presents the view of multiple, superimposed frames of visual information that undermine the visitor's perception of both the object before them, as well as the architecture which surrounds them. A transparency, affixed seamlessly to the glass that is built into the constructed bisecting wall, presents the image of a storefront display with a drawn curtain. When a visitor first enters the bisected gallery, the curtain appears solid and the storefront opaque. As such, when the window is approached the glass seems to reflect the space wherein the visitor stands. But this perception is contradicted by the images of passing cars and buildings presented in the transparency as reflected images in the window. It then becomes clear that the visitor is in fact looking into the empty space on opposite side of the constructed wall. Further complicating the visitor's orientation and perception of surroundings, are the actual visible reflections of the viewer and space on the viewing side of the glass.

'Hornig's constructions are built to subtly reconfigure viewer and object relations within exhibition spaces.' (Cay Sophie Rabinowitz, 'Sabine Hornig: Karl Schmidt-Rottluff Stipendium, catalog, 2000). Her works function to expand and recontextualize a defined architectural space, while simultaneously expanding the constraints of the material objects used in the construction. But beyond the mere architectural dialogue and perceptual manipulation Hornig's work inspires, they further provoke memory and imagination as sensation and experience.

A 1999-2000 participant in the P.S. 1/Clocktower International Studio Program, Hornig's work has been exhibited recently at Malmo Kunstmuseet; Kunsthalle Hamburg; Staatliche Kunsthalle, Baden-Baden; and the Atlanta Contemporary Art Center, Geortia among other major institutions.

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Sabine Hornig