“Stage Fright,” an exhibition by Nicolas Party at Kestner Gesellschaft, Hannover

“If you decide to paint an apple, you enter into a dialogue with everyone who has ever painted an apple, and there are many,” says Nicolas Party, swiss-born multimedia artist who is known for making his art-historical influences implicitly visible in his work. This time, Party brings to us a site-specific installation; an immersive mural of a green grotto which he spent 4 weeks to produce, referring to countless predecessors that depict underground caves. In addition to this atmospheric spatial experience, on display for the first time are also 9 portraits that pose currently relevant questions. These portraits feature the characteristic face of Marlene Dietrich. Party reduces the icon to basic elements in order to test the limits of what is still recognisable as “Marlene.” 

Photos by Robert Knoke

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