Both ‘blue jeans’ and ‘the blues’ are listed as materials in Vanessa German’s towering sculpture ‘Sad Rapper,’ the title piece of her current solo show at Chelsea’s Kasmin Gallery. Not only a visual artist but a poet and performer, German creates descriptions of her assembled sculptures that double as poetic reflections on the thought processes behind the work. Dressed in blue and standing on a platform of red and white stripes, this figure represents a less easily recognized ‘American’ character, one covered in prayer bundles but laden with society’s expectations. (On view through Oct 22nd).
Vanessa German, Sad Rapper, wood, tar, 75 pounds of old blue jeans, the blues, sorrow, cuz in 1983 rappers could be bad but could not be sad— or gay, holiness, salt, a groan, tears, African blue and white cloth, love, meanness, the way that it feels to need to cry but not be able to cry— for an exceptionally long time, convinced of muscle instead of tenderness, grief, yarn, twine, loneliness, old blue bed sheets, heartbreak and lying about it, canvas, prayer beads, shame, black pigment, delusion, love, love, love, you gonna be ok ni$$a, you ain’t alone homie, it’s ok, just go’on ahead and be broken for a little while, shit~ life is hard sometimes, red and white paint, foam, ptsd, glue, plaster, heat, 78 x 48 x 40 inches, 2022.
Pittsburgh-based artist, poet and performer Vanessa German’s vibrant installations of photo and sculpture stand out around Rockefeller Center, luring viewers with their dramatic color and abundant detail. Initially puzzling for their lack of commercial message in an environment designed to sell, photos of fabulously dressed women and sculptures of German’s signature power figures convey feminine power. The Center’s shows and attractions have ground to a halt due to COVID-19, but German’s semi-divine, haloed figure remains. (On view in Midtown through April 5th. Organized by Art Production Fund).
Vanessa German, view of the installation ‘The Holiest Wilderness is Freedom,’ March 2020.
Pittsburgh-based artist Vanessa German assembles a stunningly arrayed army of folk characters for her current show at Chelsea’s Pavel Zoubok Gallery. The figure in the foreground holds a lantern aloft as if to metaphorically light the way forward; a mother with an astounding headdress of ceramic devotional sculpture holds her limp child to the right; a figure at back speaks for social justice by holding up a stop sign. (Through Nov 30th).
Vanessa German, installation view of ‘I Am Armed. I Am an Army’ at Pavel Zoubok Gallery. Foreground: ‘no admittance apply at office,’ mixed-media assemblage, 73 x 30 x 16 inches, 2016.
