Konrad Fischer Galerie in Düsseldorf is delighted to present signature, a new solo exhibition by Berlin-based artist Manfred Pernice (b. 1963).
Against the backdrop of current debates on artificial intelligence, originality, the production process of artworks and authorship, questions are increasingly being raised about a genuine, distinctive artistic signature, a ‘signature style’, the role of the author in the creative process, and the actual sites of artistic production. Translated into the independent (and also idiosyncratic) sculptural language of Manfred Pernice’s works, these signatures are found both in relation to his archetypal forms and objects and in their presentation and references to the process of their creation.
On the first floor, two very different workspaces for artistic activity have been set up. Seemingly authentic desks appear as places abandoned just as, or in the midst of, a work or process, conveying the impression of potential artistic production. These installations thus function as references to artistic work or, indeed, as the very result of that work.
Equally compelling are the independent works („Dosen“, objects, text collages, furniture and shelves, filled with various found objects) which are arranged and installed as part of the exhibition’s setting and accompaniment. The materials and craftsmanship used identify these works as ‘originals’. Traces of the working process and seemingly unfinished passages are intended and must be read as the ‘signature’ of the artistic stance. This is accompanied by a perception-specific uncertainty: are these features deliberately ‘applied’ or staged, or are they more or less authentic components of the respective original?
On the second floor, visitors are met by a dimly lit room containing objects and works that are less clearly visible, yet which, within the context of the exhibition, can be directly and typically attributed to the artist Manfred Pernice. This attribution contains, as it were, a blurring and a speculative element, as it is not immediately clear whether this is an exhibition of various autonomous works or a spatial installation with additional acoustic features. The gesture of the exhibition is somewhat relativized here and shifted in favour of a more diffuse impression. The typical signature of the works is obscured here and is lost in a general overall impression.
The front building contains planks and panels made of plywood and chipboard, bearing a wide variety of marks from workshop production, which accumulated during clearance work between 2008 and 2018. The respective traces of work (remnants of spray paint, marks left by paint tins, burn marks) arose without any design intent and were distinguished from wood waste on the basis of their presumed relevance to the work. The entrance door is held open by a doorstop made from concrete and leftover tiles.
