Hosek Contemporary is pleased to invite you to the opening of CHRYSALIS, an exhibition by Hildur Henrýsdóttir.
Curated by Linda Toivio.
Opening reception: Friday 29 April, 2022, 6-10 PM (Gallery Weekend Berlin)
Exhibition period: April 29 – May 14, 2022.
Open Thu-Sat 2-6 PM and during the events.
The exhibition is supported by Embassy of Iceland in Germany.
Referring to a transitional state, a chrysalis is also known as the hard cocoon protecting a developing moth or butterfly. It is a process of transformation from one form to another, into an alternative and more evolved creature. Approaching a thematic through the concept of arthropods is common in Hildur Henrysdóttir’s artistic expression, as she frequently uses insects to represent her inner realm, that repulsiveness and shame she believes to carry. However, within this exhibition, the focus is no longer on the repellent nature of insects, but their capacity for growth and renewal.
Chrysalis is site-specific, consisting of a performative video work and a series of sculptures. Realised in collaboration with a sound artist and two performers, the video is activated through the performance of Henrysdóttir, filmed in the process of becoming a sculpture herself; gradually covered in plaster, she is slowly disappearing under layers of the white paste.
In this context, the statue, a symbol of classical beauty and often associated with Greek and Roman art, acts as an ideal but suffocating mould, which the artist eventually shatters and breaks out of. Addressing topics such as vulnerability and the temporality of human existence, the large-scale sculptures are created with found objects and materials; concrete and plastic assemble with the softness of human-like forms, unnervingly challenging artificially constructed power structures.
These newly commissioned pieces can be understood as a step further from Henrysdóttir’s previous work, as she seems to enter a new phase, by explicitly comparing her own evolution to a metamorphosis within a chrysalis. The exhibition is part of an ongoing process of personal transformation, self-realisation and growth. Henrysdóttir examines these intimate mechanisms through her artistic work, shamelessly, but full of self-doubt.
