Elisabeth Penker
Elisabeth Penker (b. 1974) studied Sculpture at the Academy of Fine Arts, Vienna under Bruno Gironcoli and was a Theory Researcher at the Jan van Eyck Academie (Maastricht, NL).
Her ongoing works entitled "Split Representation" utilize the formal structure discussed by Claude Levi-Strauss in his essay "Split Representation in the Art of Asia and the America" in which he compares different cultures and different periods in history from Shang Dynasty (China), Haida Gwaii (Canada), Caduveo (Brazil) and Maori (New Zealand) who all use similar stylistic elements to represent (for example) the face which is not seen from the front- but as two profiles merged together to form one. Elisabeth Penker appropriates the portraits of philosophers, anthropologists, cultural scholars & artists and re-represents them in a split methodolgy, developing a new hybrid-form of representation which merges both Western and Non-Western concepts of representation.
Penker also works with sound compositions, based on grammatical classifications of languages, deconstructed into minimal phonetic units and then reconstructed into new (word/tonal) forms.
Selected solo exhibitions include Charim Galerie, Vienna; Rauminhalt, Vienna; Onamatopee, Eindhoven; Secession (Solo Performance), Vienna; Roma Contemporary, Rome; Galerie nächst St. Stephan (Log-in), Vienna; Museum for Applied Arts, CAT Tower, Vienna; Künstlerhaus Stuttgart with Fo/Go Lab; HTTP Gallery, London; LISTE, Basel; Temporary Services, Chicago; Institut für Gegenwartskunst, Vienna.
Selected Group Exhibitions include "Flirting with Strangers", Belvedere 21er Haus, Vienna; "The Uncanny", Enia Gallery, Athens; "The Program", University of Illinois, Chicago; "Protections", Kunsthaus Graz; “Untitled 654321”, Kunsthalle Brandts, DK; "Sound System", Salzburger Kunstverein, Salzburg; Howard House Gallery, Seattle; “First Story-Women Building”, Galerie do Palacio Cristal with FO/GO Lab, Porto, PT.
Her work is represented by Charim Galerie, Vienna.
