Somewhere in the galleries at Sprüth Magers in Berlin a cat is mewing. As you enter Pamela Rosenkranz’s new exhibition — through a portal-like room filled with a strange blue light — you won’t know it, but you’re being sprayed with a primal odour. It’s a scent that might make you feel more affectionate towards the feline species.
‘I have always liked cats and find them very beautiful. I grew up with cats, and my own cat was giving birth to her kittens under my bed – in the Lego box!’ muses artist Pamela Rosenkranz, who is rather fond of felines. ‘In terms of creating art in relation with cats the spark was lit when I learned about a parasite called toxoplasmosis. Toxoplasmosis is a peculiar, relatively unknown parasite, despite its widespread appearance. About one in three people carry the parasite responsible for the condition toxoplasmosis, which can lead to finding the smell of cat pheromones more attractive.’
Rosenkranz uses light to create a supernatural version of a ‘high noon blue’ that triggers sensual stimuli from the surrounding environment
It’s not the first time the Swiss artist has been inspired by this perturbing parasite — her recent exhibit at the Fondazione Prada in Milan also addressed it. In Berlin, ‘She Has No Mouth’ further develops the connections between humans and cats, wild and domesticated, through sound, colour and smell. That smell refers to ‘a cat-like smell synthesised in France, where more than half the people are infected, under the name Civetone, and it’s a prominent component in Chanel No 5’.
Civetone is now found in many household products, Rosenkranz explains, including shampoo and washing detergent, and even ‘as a flavouring agent in food’. You might not pick up the odour as you walk around the gallery, as its hard to distinguish from the perfumes and colognes of other visitors.
Rosenkranz’s olfactory work is a gradient comprised of ‘all the perfumes available that have a dominant interpretation of the cat pheromone component in them’. She explains, ‘One of these fragrances is “Obsession for Men” by Calvin Klein, which apparently the jaguar and other wild cats are so attracted to that it is used to capture and count cats in the wild.’
Dusty, earthy tones of red, pink, taupe and terracotta, as well as different renditions of fur patterns in a new series of layered paintings contribute to a sub-Saharan atmosphere, while a large rose-coloured circle of sand in the middle of the space recalls a desert plane. There is of course — as in all of Rosenkranz’s work — an offbeat sex appeal to the whole thing, from the assimilation of animal scent and perfume, sensual skin and fur motifs, consumer culture and cat aesthetics.
Just as in the animal world, the show’s effect is more intuitive, pawing at our instincts. Rosenkranz adds, ‘Our daily lives are increasingly exposed to effects that we have not much awareness of, and it’s these potentially very powerful hidden forces that I’m interested in.’
The works probe the sensory stimulations that have triggered 'hard-wired' responses in humans since prehistoric times
Pattern Tension (Partean), 2017
In her new series, Rosenkranz replicates skin tones as well as the sand and earth hues native to the sub-Saharan African landscape where cats first hunted
'She Has No Mouth' builds on Rosenkranz’s recent work Infection, which was on the subject of toxoplasmosis
INFORMATION
‘She has no mouth’ is on view until 17 June. For more information, visit the Sprüth Magers website
ADDRESS
Sprüth Magers
Oranienburger Strasse 18
10178 Berlin
-
A revamped Edinburgh apartment combines Californian-style modernism with modern craftArcher + Braun have transformed an apartment in a historic house with finely tuned contemporary additions and sympathetic attention to detail
-
Formafantasma’s biodiversity-boosting installation in a Perrier Jouët vineyard is cross-pollination at its bestFormafantasma and Perrier Jouët unveil the first project in their ‘Cohabitare’ initiative, ‘not only a work of art but also a contribution to the ecosystem’
-
Gingerbread City: architects sculpt London out of the season's favourite treatUntil December 29 in Chelsea, see London brought to life in a seasonal-appropriate medium by leading architects and designers
-
Louise Bonnet’s falling figures depict an emotional narrative to be felt rather than toldLouise Bonnet’s solo exhibition 'Reversal of Fortune' at Galerie Max Hetzler in Berlin, nods to historical art references and the fragility of the human condition
-
Inside E-WERK Luckenwalde’s ‘Tell Them I Said No’, an art festival at Berlin's former power stationE-WERK Luckenwalde’s two-day art festival was an eclectic mix of performance, workshops, and discussion. Will Jennings reports
-
Alexandra Pirici’s action performance in Berlin is playfully abstract with a desire to address urgent political questionsArtist and choreographer Alexandra Pirici transforms the historic hall of Berlin’s Hamburger Bahnhof into a live action performance and site-specific installation
-
Berlinde De Bruyckere’s angels without faces touch down in Venice churchBelgian artist Berlinde De Bruyckere’s recent archangel sculptures occupy the 16th-century white marble Abbazia di San Giorgio Maggiore for the Venice Biennale 2024
-
Don’t miss: Thea Djordjadze’s site-specific sculptures in LondonThea Djordjadze’s ‘framing yours making mine’ at Sprüth Magers, London, is an exercise in restraint
-
Lawrence Lek’s depressed self-driving cars offer a glimpse of an AI future in BerlinLawrence Lek’s installation ‘NOX’, created with LAS Art Foundation, takes over Berlin’s abandoned Kranzler Eck shopping centre
-
Remote Antarctica research base now houses a striking new art installationIn Antarctica, Kyiv-based architecture studio Balbek Bureau has unveiled ‘Home. Memories’, a poignant art installation at the remote, penguin-inhabited Vernadsky Research Base
-
Ryoji Ikeda and Grönlund-Nisunen saturate Berlin gallery in sound, vision and visceral sensationAt Esther Schipper gallery Berlin, artists Ryoji Ikeda and Grönlund-Nisunen draw on the elemental forces of sound and light in a meditative and disorienting joint exhibition
