FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

AUGUST 2009

SONJA VORDERMAIER

DAMMERZUNDER

SEPTEMBER 12 - OCTOBER 24, 2009

Opening reception Saturday, September 12, 6-9pm

De Soto Gallery presents Dämmerzunder, an exhibition by Sonja Vordermaier opening September 12, 2009. The exhibition includes a large-scale sculptural installation and photographs. This is Vordermaier’s first solo show in the US.

Sonja Vordermaier’s gives us a view of hidden realms and otherwise invisible things. Her practice centers around elucidating the unimaginable, and acknowledging the potential and vastness of that which is intangible. The Shadow installations represent the non-material world, the negative space in between things. It is an inversion of the emphasis on illuminated objects and a reversal of the idea that light and the object that casts the shadow are the masters. To Vordermaier, it is more likely the other way around: the shadow is part of the greater cosmic darkness that envelops us but which we usually ignore. For Dämmerzunder, the giant shadow comes alive, manifesting in three dimensions. With just one blip in the normal order of things, two completely incongruous realities intersect leaving an errant shadow to cross over and run amok.

The accompanying Volatiles series reveals apparent manifestations of strange phenomena. Most of the scenes are somehow familiar - a light on in a garage at night, a hole in the ceiling, wind blowing a pile of leaves. The unusualness of each instance might be glossed over except for an certain immediacy and eeriness. Each photograph is its own clue, a little window that lets us peer into a host of fictional possibilities.

Sonja Vordermaier is based in Hamburg, Germany. In Germany, she has participated in major exhibitions at Kunsthalle zu Kiel and Kunsthalle Mannheim. In the US, she has won awards and residencies with the MAK Center for Architecture and the Joshua Tree Highlands Residency Program. Vordermaier will travel to Los Angeles to build the installation in situ for de Soto Gallery and will be present for the opening.