Birgit Werres: samples for pieces – maybe

The enigmatic world of things by Birgit Werres

Birgit Werres' (*1962) work is dominated by industrially prefabricated objects, but these experience heterogeneous combinations as the artist adds self-made elements. Birgit Werres finds her materials in industrial storage areas and production sites, where she is a permanent guest. There she comes across things that arouse her aesthetic interest. Her perception has been trained over many years; her academy studies initially led her to Tony Cragg before she completed them with Irmin Kamp. She realises her rededication of profane representationalism in rows, layers or material combinations. In such works, the artist repeatedly continues formal characteristics such as volume, texture or structure. The signal-like inherent colourfulness of the materials used often plays a prominent role. This often runs counter to the monumental physicality of the objects and further enigmatises the origin, function and properties of the material. Colleagues from Robert Smithson, Barry Le Va, Richard Artschwager and Richard Serra are often cited as references for her unconventional sculptures and installations. However, she deliberately calls the new volume of Kienbaum Artists' Books "samples for pieces - maybe", here she lines up found objects, one more beautiful than the other, which are sometimes squashed, pressed or simply a little crushed - they could, if she wanted them to, become something!