.jpg?w=1)
Lot Essay
Rosemarie Trockel's conceptual based art is often concerned with politics and the nature of identity within society, combining not only political statements but also comments on women's role in society. Untitled #3 consists of a wooden tray lined with stiff bristles, recalling the trays often found outside the door to a house which can be used to clean mud and dirt off outdoor shoes. But by fabricated this ubiquitous object into the shape of an inverted triangle, Trockel gives the work an added dimension of female sexuality. Thus by mixing man-made objects with representations of female sexuality, Trockel produces an ironic comment on its importance within a male dominated society.
Other works by Trockel also have a feminist theme. untitled, 1988 is a piece consisting of a steel cube fitted with six hot plates in two parallel diagonal lines that establishes a bridge between the feminine domain of cooking and the masculine domain of industrial production. Trockel's Painting Machine and 56 Brush Strokes, 1990 is a mechanical contraption of wires and steel rollers, in which a series of paint brushes make small marks on a roll of paper. The brushes are made of human hair and engraved with the names of the hair's donors, who include Georg Baselitz, Cindy Sherman and Barbara Kruger.
Responding to both Pop art's embracing of the commodity and also to an artist like Joseph Beuys' socializing of art into a project for the reform and improvement of society, Trockel sought in these works, as in much of her art, to shed light on the often hidden role of women as workers. Using a format of pared-down aesthetics, derived from both the Minimalist and Pop art, her unpretentious motifs are simple, and all the more powerful for that.
Other works by Trockel also have a feminist theme. untitled, 1988 is a piece consisting of a steel cube fitted with six hot plates in two parallel diagonal lines that establishes a bridge between the feminine domain of cooking and the masculine domain of industrial production. Trockel's Painting Machine and 56 Brush Strokes, 1990 is a mechanical contraption of wires and steel rollers, in which a series of paint brushes make small marks on a roll of paper. The brushes are made of human hair and engraved with the names of the hair's donors, who include Georg Baselitz, Cindy Sherman and Barbara Kruger.
Responding to both Pop art's embracing of the commodity and also to an artist like Joseph Beuys' socializing of art into a project for the reform and improvement of society, Trockel sought in these works, as in much of her art, to shed light on the often hidden role of women as workers. Using a format of pared-down aesthetics, derived from both the Minimalist and Pop art, her unpretentious motifs are simple, and all the more powerful for that.