Sailstorfer\u2019s fourth solo exhibition with the gallery brings together three series of works that explore one of the artist\u2019s signature themes: energy. He reflects on energy as a source, as storage, as a transmitter, as working material \u2013 in short, as fuel for life.<\/p>\n
The sculptural series C-Batterie<\/em> plays with notions of classical sculpture such as eternity, uniqueness and preconceived values. At first glance, the five bronze casts on white pedestals seem to fulfil these ideas: but is this really the case? Referencing Joseph Beuys\u2019 Capri-Batterie<\/em> (1985), Sailstorfer creates wax models of the original Capri battery, places them in beehives, leaves the bees to work on them for a few months, and then removes the moulds to cast bronzes from them. The results feels as if nature has taken over, destabilising and questioning the so-called balance while capturing the transience and the creative energy of the moment.<\/p>\n Another set of casts made from ordinary lightbulbs, using the same process, are suspended from the ceiling with reference to their original function.<\/p>\n Sailstorfer\u2019s latest series \u2013 Air Electric<\/em>, from which the exhibition takes its title \u2013 turns electricity into his painting medium. A power supply unit provides a constant flow of direct current that ‘paints’ silver on to copper mesh; the result is an abstract, electric landscape of pale blue cloud formations against a golden sky. Occasionally, certain The final work in the exhibition is an addition to Sailstorfer\u2019s Tank<\/em> series (2020 on). Tank 11<\/em> (2024, above) consists of an empty Audi fuel tank, deprived of its original function and context; the tank takes on anthropomorphic features, reminiscent of oceanic masks from a bygone era. The sound of breathing fills the last part of the room, reminding us that energy in any given form is always fuel for life.<\/p>\n To 23 May.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
\nshapes can be made out through the web of clouds, but the interpretation of the work is ultimately left to
\nthe viewer.<\/p>\n