In a very different way, Cornelia Renz deals with the subject matter of the childlike woman. Her paintings are no contemplative investigations of her psyche, but tell stories of action and communication, of aggression, violence and cruelty. She forces the viewer to confront these themes whose very over-representation in the media makes for their suppression and neutralization. Her works leave open whether she gives expression to the thoughts of the girls and young women or of the viewer or to an actually existing reality.
From the circle of nominated artists, the jury announced before the exhibition opening that the Schering Stiftung Art Award was presented to Cornelia Renz, born in Kaufbeuren in 1966. In its decision, the jury recognizes the young artist for the high quality of her work, her independent artistic position and her potential for further artistic development. The figurative works of the former master class student of Sighard Gille in Leipzig are populated by characters oscillating between absurdity and normalcy. Jury member Armin Zweite, director of the Kunstsammlung Nordrhein-Westfalen, analyzes the suggestive nature of Cornelia Renz’ work with a great deal of attention to the depicted alliance between sentimentality and terror. Mostly girls or childlike women, portrayed with the “brittleness of internal pictorial logic and conscious deception of the viewer.”
Armin Zweite sees Cornelia Renz’ contribution to contemporary art as follows:
“In her works, [she] responds to a specific contemporary feeling at a time when opportunities for emancipation are scarce and our lives rest on fragile foundations. (…) The viewer has the impression that the social roles are no longer defined by the function, role or status of people, but by the encoding of their appareance, which is characterized by packaging and masquerade.”
Unter den Linden 32-34
10117 Berlin
Telefon: +49.30.20 62 29 62
Email: info@scheringstiftung.de
Thursday to Monday: 1 pm - 7 pm
Saturday to Sunday: 11 am - 7 pm
free entrance