STATE Dublin, 2013, RHA Dublin, Ireland | Photos Roland Paschhoff
STATE Brussel, 2013 | Rubicon Projects Brussels, Belgium
STATE Amsterdam, 2013 | Witteveen Visual Art Centre, Amsterdam, the Netherlands
Patrick T. Murphy (Director RHA) on STATE at the RHA, Dublin April 2013;
‘…the universal task of situating the self upon this earth. How do we figure ourselves within the societal, the geopolitical, the global? Groener does not provide answers but posits elegant and engaging visual conceptions that re-phrase the questions. Her large circular grid consists of over 1800 minuscule figures impaled on pins and mounted on the wall. It strains our comprehension to index the shapes, to identify repetition or uniqueness.
A greater complexity comes to the object when it is lit, two light sources, multiply the population a hundredfold. In shadow some touch, some overlap, in shadow comes greater possibilities. The pins’ shadows flick right and left, almost bit not quite achieving a diamond grid. Not a grid of mathematical grammar more akin to an electrical grid, the powerful impossibility of linkage, the denial of redemption from our fixed individuality.’
Frank Lubbers (exhibition maker and writer), on STATE at Rubicon Projects Brussels, April 2013;
‘Anita Groener’s three-dimensional drawing "STATE" deals with the current socio-cultural condition of the world, in which the geopolitical landscape is largely determined by conflict and resistance. "STATE" shows our world as a circular battlefield, littered with casualties: countless tiny figures, cut from black paper; walking, standing, kneeling, falling, lying down, but also working together and supporting each other. They are seemingly identical in size, colour, material and shape, but there are also minor differences. After all, they are made by hand, so there are no two alike. Upon close inspection each figure can be viewed as an individual, while all together, seen from a distance, look like a flock of starlings. Each individual disappears into the crowd and is also essential for the emergence of that same crowd.
Groener’s multilayered allegorical "STATE" can be interpreted as a magnificent statistical imagination of "la condition humaine" of our current society.’
STATE Brussel, 2013 | Rubicon Projects Brussels, Belgium
STATE Amsterdam, 2013 | Witteveen Visual Art Centre, Amsterdam, the Netherlands
