Along with the halls full of gallery stands, Art Cologne 2001 had a special section - Köln Skulptur - devoted to large-scale sculptures. Among the most interesting artists with large sculptural works on view was Berlinde de Bruyckere with an installation entitled In Flander's Fields , consisting of five life-sized stuffed horses made from polyester and leather, at Galleria Continua (San Gimignano).

Another section was devoted to "new talents": twenty-five young artists of different nationalities, selected by a jury, represented "new trends." The artists here included Sonja Alhäuser, Emmanuelle Antille, Yael Davids, Bob Gramsma, Markus Huemer, Robert Lippok, Karim Noureldin, Sarah Rapson, Shirana Shahbazi, Alexander Timtschenko, Albrecht Tübke, and Sylvie Zijlmans. Most interesting of the 'young art' was Markus Huemer's net- and video-based installation With Rothko at the Other End of Time at Galerie Michael Janssen (Cologne) which directly refers to Mark Rothko's paintings. As a first step, Huemer uses a white projected image from a filmless super-8 projector; the image is constantly in gentle motion. This moving image is then implemented as a net site which is projected in the gallery space. The internet-protocol address, shown on the bottom left of the image, betrays the net intervention. Huemer approaches art history in a reflective way and describes his artistic practice in an interview with Rosanne Altstatt:

With the installation I try to transfer central, significant strategies other artists use to find images for their paintings into the new 'Net installation' medium. I do this in order to question how well-suited the Net installation might be for art. This approach can be called 'medial Mannerism'. ¹

above: Markus Huemer: With Rothko at the other end of time , 2001, net/DVD installation; courtesy Michael Janssen Gallery

In the performances/installations of Yael Davids at Galerie Akinci (Amsterdam), the human body plays a significant role. In Wardrobe one sees, on one side, five shapes in the form of human bodies cut out on a wide, white wall. On the other side of the wall, performers press parts of their body through the openings in the wall. They constantly change their places, climbing up and down the wardrobe. Davids puts it, "They are longing for the perfect image...You see Sisyphus didn't manage to roll the stone to the top of the mountain, neither will they." Using the body as her material, Davids' other performance, Head , shows the head of a woman around which her hair is slowly turning. Davids calls this process an implication of duration: "There is the idea of change and endless coming back to the same form, comparable to 'Wardrobe' and 'Pillow'. I think of a 'Teufelskreis' ['vicious circle']."

Above : Yael Davids: Head , 2000, video still; courtesy Galerie Akinci; left: Yael Davids: Giant/wardrobe , 2001, performance/installation; courtesy Galerie Akinci

Surrounded by the enormous amount of works of art from all over the world, Chinese art was one the notable attractions on Art Cologne. Works by Yue Minjun and Yang Shaobin, two well-known artists with growing international reputations, were shown at Urs Meile Galerie (Lucerne). Minjun's laughing figures, cloned seven times in a seated position - to represent the absurdity of a collective society - struck the viewer's attention. Shaobin's paintings of morbid- and disturbing-looking figures, which evoke a sense of victimization, put the viewer in a menaced and threatened position. Rough lines and various shades of red tinged with white reflect blood and tears, which create an image of violently beaten figures.

From top to bottom: Yue Minjun: Grey , 2001, oil on canvas, 144 x 168 cm; courtesy Urs Meile Gallery; Yang Shaobin: untitled, 1998/99, oil on canvas, 230 x 180 cm; courtesy Urs Meile Gallery; Yang Shaobin: untitled, 2000, oil on canvas, 230 x 180 cm; courtesy Urs Meile Gallery

Despite the impact of the terror attack on the 11th of September in New York and the following recession, the art fair still was a commercial event for many collectors and art buyers. And this commercial aspect did not stop the inclusion of more 'experimental' work, which gave a vibrant and impulsive touch to the fair and justified its claim to be an "ARTPOLE of the world."

¹ Rosanne Altstatt (ed .), Avatars and Others: Dan Graham, Lynn Hershmann, Marcus Huemer, Kirstin Lucas, Victor Vesna , Frankfurt am Main: Revolver - Archiv fur aktuelle Kunst, 2001, p. 28

Ferial Kasmai is a an Iranian writer and artist on residency in Ireland.

Article reproduced from CIRCA 98, Winter 2001, p.64.

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