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Lot Essay
Anselm Reyle's works are future-modern and retro-contemporary simultaneously. The artist combines a unique perspective of the very essence of Pop-Art and modernist traditions with futuristic materials, which create a bizarre mix of delirious and cool, of kitsch yet classic, of artificial and delicate. By doing so, he seizes modern abstract forms of expression as if they were nothing more but precious waif. He systematically picks and chooses from a vast source of twentieth century genres, and combines different selections, regardless of their antagonisms, to re-create astonishing resubmission and concurrency. Whether it is Informel, Op-Art, Hardedge or Minimalism, which appear in fusion or combination: Reyle's works generate an aestheticism that leads the viewer beyond the physical form of the object whereby moving simultaneously into the past and future.
In reply to a question why he likes to play with the clichés of modernism, Reyle explains that a fascination with modernism prior to studying art led him to the "logical conclusion to keep up his interest" after finishing at the academy. "I see it as an inspiration, sometimes ironic, but mostly because I am really interested in the classic tradition of modernism" (A. Reyle in interview with A. Tovborg, Copenhagen, Andersen-s Contemporary, Anselm Reyle. Valley of the Snake Ladies, May-June 2006). However, despite the fact that Reyle's works evoke several discourses simultaneously and are highly referential within an art historical context, they signify a pop-kitsch appeal, fashioned by glitzy materials like enamel or glitter, by neon and a bold palette, and by compositions that combine the gestural with sharply geometrical designs. His works become a bubble-gum kitsch with rock-and-roll decorative character. Reyle: "I like the idea of cliché. To me it means that people found common sense in a certain matter. So I see it as an inspiration and not negative" (ibid.).
'Glamour' is the word that would capture the aura of Reyle's art indefinitely, and in particular his neon sculptures: originally understood as a kind of spell, 'glamour' was used to describe the bewitching or enchantment which would temporarily dazzle or blind a person of the objective reality of the material world. In Untitled, 2005, the viewer is transported into a state where the seductive powers of light and pop colours make the most banal material of modern living -- neon -- the source of fantastic stimulation. And as with all glamorously captivating objects, it is not necessary to understand the multilayered references and historical discourses combined within this sculpture: all that is required of the viewer is to see and to allow him or herself to get carried away by the work's technical effect. Reyle: "Surface and colours refer to things we relate to. I like the idea that kids as well as people who have nothing to do with art can also find their own access to my work. It's as simple as standing and waiting to cross the road, when a truck drives by and you're fascinated by the appearance of the hood. It's easy" (ibid.).
In reply to a question why he likes to play with the clichés of modernism, Reyle explains that a fascination with modernism prior to studying art led him to the "logical conclusion to keep up his interest" after finishing at the academy. "I see it as an inspiration, sometimes ironic, but mostly because I am really interested in the classic tradition of modernism" (A. Reyle in interview with A. Tovborg, Copenhagen, Andersen-s Contemporary, Anselm Reyle. Valley of the Snake Ladies, May-June 2006). However, despite the fact that Reyle's works evoke several discourses simultaneously and are highly referential within an art historical context, they signify a pop-kitsch appeal, fashioned by glitzy materials like enamel or glitter, by neon and a bold palette, and by compositions that combine the gestural with sharply geometrical designs. His works become a bubble-gum kitsch with rock-and-roll decorative character. Reyle: "I like the idea of cliché. To me it means that people found common sense in a certain matter. So I see it as an inspiration and not negative" (ibid.).
'Glamour' is the word that would capture the aura of Reyle's art indefinitely, and in particular his neon sculptures: originally understood as a kind of spell, 'glamour' was used to describe the bewitching or enchantment which would temporarily dazzle or blind a person of the objective reality of the material world. In Untitled, 2005, the viewer is transported into a state where the seductive powers of light and pop colours make the most banal material of modern living -- neon -- the source of fantastic stimulation. And as with all glamorously captivating objects, it is not necessary to understand the multilayered references and historical discourses combined within this sculpture: all that is required of the viewer is to see and to allow him or herself to get carried away by the work's technical effect. Reyle: "Surface and colours refer to things we relate to. I like the idea that kids as well as people who have nothing to do with art can also find their own access to my work. It's as simple as standing and waiting to cross the road, when a truck drives by and you're fascinated by the appearance of the hood. It's easy" (ibid.).