Wentrup is pleased to present „Stern und schwärzliche Fahrt“ (Star and Blackish Journey), the first solo exhibition of Berlin artist Gregor Hildebrandt at its Venetian location; it is the tenth exhibition in total with the gallery, which is celebrating its 20th anniversary this year. In April, Wentrup Venezia opened parallel to the Venice Biennale in the former studio of the renowned Italian fashion designer Giuliana di Camerino. Hildebrandt drew inspiration from this historic site and interweaves his own work with the stories and creations of the designer and her label, Roberta di Camerino. The exhibition offers a new perspective on the work of these two iconic figures and reveals apparent points of contact on both conceptual and formal levels.
Gregor Hildebrandt is internationally renowned for his innovative use of cassette and video tapes, and vinyl records as source material for his works. His artistic production is characterized by a unique interaction between music and visual art, where soundtracks become the physical foundation of his creations. Hildebrandt uses the magnetic material from audio tapes, the surface of records, and the materials used in recording audio cassettes to create paintings, sculptures, and space-filling installations that deal with memory, time, and nostalgia. The cassette or video tapes used are pre-recorded with songs or films, adding an invisible dimension to the works. With the exhibition at Wentrup Venezia, his works are situated in both a physical and historical context that is already charged with memories and nostalgia. Thus, the fashion label Roberta di Camerino still represents a glorious symbol of Venice's artistic past today.
"Stern und schwärzliche Fahrt" provides an extensive insight into Hildebrandt's artistic oeuvre and brings together various groups of works. On display are, among others, his well-known rip-off paintings, cassette shelves, vinyl columns, and curtains made of VHS tapes. They are charged with references and associations that the artist has woven into his works, thus providing numerous background narratives. The titles are usually an indication of these and provide insight. Hildebrandt took the title for his exhibition from the poem Venice by the Austrian poet Georg Trakl (1887-1914): "The sea nights motionless. Star and blackish journey. Vanished along the canal." Trakl's poetry is dominated by the mood and colors of autumn and dark images of evening and night. Hildebrandt's materials, which are both physically dark and symbolically represent the transient nature of music and memory, create an atmospheric density reminiscent of Trakl's lyrical melancholy.
Colors and forms play a fundamental role for both Hildebrandt and di Camerino. Di Camerino was known for her bold and innovative use of colors and geometric patterns. Her color composition work characterizes the cityscape of Venice. With his columns made of molded vinyl records, Hildebrandt draws on various color codes of the designer. The color palette of the sculptures refers not only to the mooring posts on the waterside of the gallery, but also to the original coloring of the first “Grace Bag,” a handbag that di Camerino had made for Grace Kelly and which became an overnight bestseller. The American actress, who reached the height of her career in the 1950s and became a style icon due to her fashion sophistication, in turn, forms the central motif on Hildebrandt's cassette shelves in the exhibition. Time almost seems to stand still in the former studio of Giuliana di Camerino when one looks at these glamorous photographs of the actress. Kelly, a regular visitor to the Venice Film Festival, maintained an intimate friendship with di Camerino that went beyond fashion.
Both Giuliana di Camerino and Gregor Hildebrandt have explored the potential of merging two arts. For Roberta di Camerino – who was friends with Salvador Dalí and many other artists of her generation – it was visual art and fashion; for Gregor Hildebrandt, it is visual art and music. By pushing the boundaries of their respective disciplines, they show how different arts can influence and enhance each other. In his installations, Hildebrandt reflects on the work of other modern artists across genres. This is also the case in the work We are sad to say (Carny) from 2021, which shows the front of the San Michele cemetery and can be seen from the gallery. The work, realized in his signature rip-off technique, references Nick Cave's song The Carny; released on the 1986 album Your Funeral ... my Trial.
The concept of collecting also plays an important role in Hildebrandt and di Camerino's artistic work. The act of collecting serves as a method to preserve memories, and simultaneously, the works are imbued with traces of history, which lends them a nostalgic aura and enriches their formal charm. This is evident in several works by Gregor Hildebrandt that directly relate to Venice and illustrate the artist's connection to this unique city. These works originate from places he has personally visited and where he captured details, preserving them to later use as motifs. The work Das Schlüsselwerk (The Key Work) illustrates the aspect of collecting autobiographical elements. It contains personal credit cards, hotel cards, and train customer cards, and illustrates the artist's fascination with preserving personal memories through tangible objects.
Gregor Hildebrandt's works form metaphors for personal and collective memory and unfold a reflection on the transience of remembrance. They become time capsules of sounds and voices from the past.
Hildebrandt's exhibition extends beyond the physical boundaries of the gallery. Two large sails, which the artist created in 2017 from tape material, will be set on a boat that will sail in the San Marco basin and parts of the southern lagoon on September 21. This initiative will allow the public to experience the city of Venice, the lagoon, and Hildebrandt's art from a new, special, and poetic perspective, guided by the artist's sails and the Venetian sea breeze.
