Dowry is Josefine Reisch's third solo exhibition at Galerie Noah Klink. Josefine works in a dissecting style that interweaves contradictory motifs. In Dowry, Josefine juxtaposes signs of royalism and socialism, pomp and pretence, glory and failure. It is an exploration of material and celebrity culture.
The production of high-quality damask has been a dominant trade in southern Saxony since the 17th century. Beginning as prestige goods for European royal courts, the trade survived nationalisation in the GDR and is still present in the region today. On collaged tablecloths from these manufactories, Josefine paints logos of GDR foreign exchange agencies and diamond tiaras worn by Princess Diana at public appearances. Small-format paintings in golden tones show fields of apparent opposites. The motifs are united by the glitz and glamour of gold paint, false gold leaf and gold dust.
It is the capacity of painting and its ground to be a simultaneity of different narratives that Josefine uses to create a rupture in the reading of a popularized motif. Her paintings refuse a clear reading and invite the viewer to question their value and validation.
Exhibition Text
