No Fear of Fainting in a Gym
with Louisa Gagliardi, Ebecho Muslimova, Tabita Rezaire, and Anna Uddenberg
January 27–March 25, 2018
Davidstrasse 40
9000 St.Gallen
Switzerland
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At the beginning of 2018 Kunst Halle Sankt Gallen is simultaneously showing a monographic photo exhibition of Herbert Hoffmann and a group exhibition of international artists with the title No Fear of Fainting in a Gym. The common denominator of both projects is the interest of all the participating artists in the human body as source material and projection surface.
The legendary tattooist Herbert Hoffmann (1919-2010) lived for three decades in Heiden/AR (Switzerland), where he also passed away. He did not only leave his mark on Eastern Switzerland but all over the world as a true cult figure in the tattoo scene during his lifetime. It is less well-known that Hoffmann was active as a photographer and left wonderful portraits of people he had tattooed. With more than a hundred works Kunst Halle Sankt Gallen is devoting what is so far the most comprehensive museum exhibition to the artist Herbert Hoffmann. Besides known portraits of his clients and accomplices, for the first time some works and documents are on show which make apparent Hoffmann’s precise photographic approach as well as his interest in the stories of those he portrayed, which he also recorded on paper. Hoffmann’s work therefore does not only create a highly aestheticised and poetic view of tattooed people but also an impressive picture of a generation.
In dialogue with Herbert Hoffmann’s retrospective the group exhibition No Fear of Fainting in a Gym is showing works by international female artists who take as their central theme the body, parts of it or even its absence and thereby stimulate a critical encounter with its present-day perception and the use of it. In the works on show there is a mixture of self portrayal and phantasms, grotesque humour and the uncanny, real limits of the physical and the virtual possibilities of new technologies. The exhibition is characterised by the use of the widest range of media such as a mural (Ebecho Muslimova, *1984, Russia), inkjet print on PVC (Louisa Gagliardi, *1989, Switzerland), sculpture (Anna Uddenberg, *1982, Sweden) and video (Tabita Rezaire, *1989, France). The artists manage both to explore technical limits and to open a space between the poles of the grotesque and figuration. No Fear of Fainting in a Gym consciously promotes the female view on the topic and makes an important contribution to current discussions.
Herbert Hoffmann (*1919 in Chociwel/PL — formerly Freienwalde/D, †2010 in Heiden/AR, Switzerland) served an apprenticeship as a retail salesman before he was conscripted to the Reich Labour Service. He served in Russia during the war from 1941 to 1945. In 1949 he returned to Germany after internment near Riga/LVA. From 1961 he ran his own tattoo studio near the Hamburg Reeperbahn. In 1980 he retired to Switzerland where he lived until his death with his partner Jakob Anker. Artist's website
Louisa Gagliardi (*1989 in Sion/CH), lives and works in Zurich.
Ebecho Muslimova (*1984 in Dagestan/RUS), lives and works in New York.
Tabita Rezaire (*1989 in Paris/FR), lives and works in Johannesburg.
Anna Uddenberg (*1982 in Stockholm/SE), lives and works in Berlin.
High-resolution images can be found here.
For further questions please contact Giovanni Carmine or Maren Brauner.
The Kunst Halle Sankt Gallen is supported by St.Gallen City Council, Kulturförderung Kanton St.Gallen, Swisslos, Fondation Nestlé pour l’Art (Partenariat), Migros-Kulturprozent, Martel AG. The educational programme is made possible by Raiffeisen and Kulturförderung Appenzell Ausserrhoden.
