EVA GENTNER

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Selected works:

Selected works from the series:
"Implementation of geocentrism", 2021-24
Pencil on historic paper
34 x 26 cm (38,5 x 30,5 cm)
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Collaboration with Adrian Nagel and Christopher Amm
Heliumorgel, 2023/24
Organ pipes, glass bell, wind mechanism
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Eva Gentner / Miriam Rose Gronwald:
“Four Interventions in Public Space”
Stuttgart 2021, Videoloop 32 min
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Eva Gentner's sculptures - thin round-bent steel skeletons - are reminiscent of the shape of sea buoys. A buoy is a fixed marker in the open ocean and serves to guide and mark paths. Gentner's sculptures are different: they are light and, above all, transportable. Together with the dancer and choreographer Miriam Rose Gronwald, Eva Gentner set up and dismantled the sculptures for a few minutes at various locations in Stuttgart's urban space: short sculptural and performative localizations, fleeting interventions.

Eva Gentners Skulpturen – dünne rundgebogene Stahlgerippe – erinnern an die Form von Seebojen. Eine Boje ist ein fester Markierungspunkt im offenen Ozean und dient der Wegeführung und Markierung. Anders Gentners Skulpturen: diese sind leicht und vor allem transportabel. Gemeinsam mit der Tänzerin und Choreografin Miriam Rose Gronwald baute Eva Gentner die Skulpturen an unterschiedlichsten Stellen im Stuttgarter Stadtraum für wenige Minuten auf und wieder ab: kurze skulpturale und performative Verortungen, flüchtige Interventionen.

Excerpt from:
"Serra forgot something", 2020
Videoloop, 3:30 min

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In spring 2020 I was invited to work in the former studio of the artist Karl Heinz Knoedler and be inspired by his archive. Since his death this studio/archive has remained untouched and is only used for events about once a year. For the exhibition I just worked with his "left-overs": I only used materials that the artist has left behind. What is the use of archived art and the value of vacant studios? Isn't it more about the artistic action itself?

Muschelbild, 2020
Oil on canvas
approx. 20 x 30 cm

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And underneath me, so much open space.
In disbelief, I know a myriad of living things are down there.
They make their own light.
Obscure nature.
Creatures
that, when brought to the surface,
fall out of shape.
Explode.
They don't measure space.
They're just there,
piling it up.

"Ungläubig weiß ich eine Unzahl an Lebendigem unter mir.
Ihr Licht produzieren sie selbst.
Obskure Natur.
Kreaturen, die
wenn man sie an die Oberfläche holt,
au ihrer Form fallen.
Explodieren.
Sie vermessen nicht den Raum.
Sie sind einfach da
und schichten ihn auf."

ocean I, 2020
Cement / Pigment on jute
60 x 40 x 5 cm

Installation view:
"digital ocean", 2020
Video projection on transparent fabric

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A virtual ocean, made of 3D-animated black and white wave motions is projected onto several thin layers of fabric. On the reverse side, residual light penetrates through the fabric and casts a shadow pattern with moirée effect on the wall.

Kimonoperformance
with Miriam Rose Gronwald
Kleine Humboldtgalerie Berlin, 2019

Exhibitionsview "Off water II", 2022
Gallery Sainte Anne
Paris, France

Adrian Nagel / Eva Gentner:
„III (wooden boxes)“, 2020
Sound installation
Labor Beethoven 2020
Akademie der Künste Berlin

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YouTube: Interview

from the series "Boobs", 2021
Oil on canvas
33 x 23 x 5 cm

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The female breast refers to the pictorial motif of "Maria lactans": in Christian symbolism, the single female breast stands here for the search for salvation and redemption, the nursing Mother of God as intercessor, and the gift of mother's milk as mediation of God's doctrine.
For Lacan, however, the female breast stands for "the evil eye": the sight of it recalls the early childhood experience of being weaned from the mother, the first experience of loss and being rejected.

Die weibliche Brust bezieht sich auf das Bildmotiv der „Maria lactans“: Die einzelne weibliche Brust steht in der christlichen Symbolik hier für die Heilsuche und Erlösung, die stillende Gottesmutter als Fürbitterin und die Gabe von Muttermilch als Vermittlung der Lehre Gottes.
Für Lacan jedoch steht die weibliche Brust für "den Bösen Blick": ihr Anblick erinnert an die frühkindliche Erfahrung der Entwöhnung von der Mutter, das erste Erleben von Verlust und Abgelehnt-werden.

„Amami Oshima Project 2017“

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In spring 2017, Eva Gentner traveled to the kimono workshops on the small Japanese island of Amami Oshima, a barely visited archipelago in the South China Sea. Here she worked in the local workshops of silk dyers and kimono weavers and documented her work in a video.
Watch Documentary
DOWNLOAD Portfolio (15MB)

Exhibition view
ocean, 2020
Rudolf-Scharpf-Galerie
Wilhelm-Hack-Museum Ludwigshafen

„writeinwater“, 2019 (left)
Videoloop for iPad
+
„sonic“, 2019 (right)
Loudspeaker, silver foil

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In the Videoloop, Eva Gentner writes in constant repetition the sentence Platon sagt, Kunst ist zwecklos (Plato says art is purposeless). The artwork quotes the philosopher Plato, who said art is as useless as writing in water.
„sonic“ is a connected loudspeaker, whose membrane is replaced by a silver foil and that vibrates softly at 7hz.

„Palimpsest“, 2019
Temporary installation
Pencil on window
(Written html-Code)

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In spring 2019 Eva Gentner was invited to create a work for a public space of her choice as part of the 150th anniversary of the Heidelberger Kunstverein.
Public spaces are of great importance for the community life of a city. The Heidelberg City Library is such a public space. It is open to all users, provides access to information and thus provides the basis for all forms of knowledge production. In the modern, technological age, libraries are confronted with other forms of information acquisition and knowledge production. There are differences, but also similarities. The temporary installation by the artist Eva Gentner moves within this field of questions. Over the length of the library‘s south windows (47 square metres), she has handwritten the source code of the Wikipedia page for the article ‚Palimpsest‘, which comprises almost 28.000 characters, on the glass panes. A palimpsest means a document whose original text has been scraped off - for example due to lack of writing material - and then overwritten with a new text. The old text, however, shines here and there through the text written over it and can be reconstructed with more or less effort. Wikipedia resembles in its structure a „ modern palimpsest „, a kind of networked hypertext by various authors, with translucent individual parts and constant overwriting. The cryptic, almost 28,000 characters source code of the website www.wikipedia.org/wiki/Palimpsest contrasts the library‘s book stock with the fragile programming of Wikipedia and its mode of operation for generating text and thus truth. What role does the author play? How to archive ‚outdated‘ knowledge and how to deal with it critically in the future? How does dialectics work here? And which requirements does Wikipedia fulfil and which not? (*quotes Nathalie Mederake)

Filmstill "desert", 2021
Performance
33 x 23 cm

Poster for the "Institut für Skopophilie", an art project by Claudius Zott and Eva Gentner
2024–2026
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"youtu.be/eXqj1XBl7eo", 2019
Videoinstallation
2:57min

Killed birds", 2024
Pencil on paper
32 x 24 cm
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Performance
"Cement kimono II", 2019
FineArt Print on Hahnemühle
48,8 x 32,5 cm

Collaboration with Adrian Nagel and Christopher Amm
Mayablau, 2023/24
Indigo / Palygorskit
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Long poem: Moby Dick
published 2020 by Verlag Kettler
Preface: Philipp Ziegler

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94 pages
Editor: Nora Jaeger, René Zechlin, Wilhelm-Hack-Museum
Graphic: Martin Lutz
With kind support of the Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung
See inside ...

Exhibition view:
"vane", 2023
Gallery Prince Eleven Berlin

"Capsule" (Detail), 2023
Wood, metal, gold
395 x 56 x 56 cm

"desert", 2019
Video installation
Exhibition views at Kunstverein Rosenheim

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Concept/Camera: Eva Gentner
Camera: Mirabai Nicholson-McKellar
Dancers: Miriam Rose Gronwald and Élise Iype
Documentation: Joshua Iype
See the Video online
(Please ask for the password via kontakt@evagentner.de)

Site-specific object
for Schloss Kapfenburg
Project "Narrative Void":
"Die Vermeintliche", 2021
Pearls / shells / teeth / historic items / a.o.
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Excerpt from:
"SILK V", 2017
Videoloop, 2:00 min

Selected works from the series:
"Implementation of geocentrism", 2021/23
Pencil on historic paper
34 x 26 cm (38,5 x 30,5 cm)
More info ...

"Muschelbild", 2020
Oil on canvas
approx. 30 x 20 cm

More info ...

"And underneath me, so much open space.
In disbelief, I know a myriad of living things are down there.
They make their own light.
Obscure nature.
Creatures
that, when brought to the surface,
fall out of shape.
Explode.
They don't measure space.
They're just there,
piling it up."

"Ungläubig weiß ich eine Unzahl an Lebendigem unter mir.
Ihr Licht produzieren sie selbst.
Obskure Natur.
Kreaturen, die
wenn man sie an die Oberfläche holt,
au ihrer Form fallen.
Explodieren.
Sie vermessen nicht den Raum.
Sie sind einfach da
und schichten ihn auf."

Exhibitionview
ocean, 2020
Rudolf-Scharpf-Galerie
Wilhelm-Hack-Museum Ludwigshafen

"Elvis", 2018
Cement / Pigment on jute
42 x 31 x 5 cm

Views of a Performance
with "Transportable Buoys"
Wilhelm-Hack-Museum
in Summer 2020

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Dancers: Miriam Rose Gronwald and Miriam Markl
Long duration performance in the port of Ludwigshafen for the Finissage of "ocean".

Installation view:
"Roses", 2019
Cement / Pigment on jute, wood, steel
95 x 127 x 33 cm

Drawings from the series
"I went upon a hill and found quartz and thyme"
Pencil on paper, 2019
29,7 x 21 cm

„La Libertad“, 2020
Gold dust / black desk / lamp
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Collaboration with Adrian Nagel and Christopher Amm
Webarchiv, 2022-24
Collection of quotes on the topic "The indeterminate"
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„relief #7“, 2019
Cement / Pigment on jute
32 x 28 x 5 cm

Exhibitionview
ocean, 2020
Rudolf-Scharpf-Galerie
Wilhelm-Hack-Museum Ludwigshafen

"Cosmic egg", 2024
Perforated goose egg
approx. 10 cm height

"Blanket II", 2023
Cement, pigment, steel angles
160 x 245 cm

Collaboration with Adrian Nagel and Christopher Amm
Snow, 2024
Videoloop 3min.
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o.T., 2021
Digital print on transparent silk
approx. 130 x 100 cm

"Pan", 2023
Greek reed, Pipe clamps
in A, E, G, E and Es
approx. 25 x 35 cm

"relief #1", 2019
Cement / Pigment on jute
37 x 29 x 5 cm

Site-specific object
for Schloss Kapfenburg
Project "Narrative Void":
"Die Ehefrau", 2021
Silk / Pearls / Leather / a.o.
More info ...

Excerpt from:
"SILK I", 2017
Videoloop, 5:00 min
Watch on Vimeo

"Whales", 2019/20
Wood / Varnish / Screws
approx. 500 x 250 x 250 cm

"Jurte", 2018
Wood (knotted)
Dimensions vary (0,6 - 20 metres)

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The „Jurten“ function as variable filigree spatial object and quickly adapt to the exhibition environment. Formally, it makes use of nomadic living concepts. At the same time, the installed grid is particularly suitable for transport due to its robust, but light physics and the simple assembly and disassembly. The dimensions of the „Jurten“ can vary between 0,6 and 20m width. Thus its form of presentation also changes depending on location and environment. It takes on the role of fast localization and remains both surface and ephemeral spatial drawing.
Setup Test with a "Jurte" at Galleryweekend contribution of Bar K Berlin in 2019
(The last picture shows the max extension of the "Jurte" to 20m):

"SILK III", 2017
Videoloop, 5:00 min
Watch on Vimeo

"Bouy", 2023
Steel
240 x 145 cm

Adrian Nagel / Eva Gentner:
„II (Membran)“, 2018
Soundinstallation for glass panels

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Four free-floating glass panels are connected to one transducer each. These make the glass plates sound in similar frequency ranges and in binaural beats. This creates a spherical, glassy sound in the room.
Watch on Vimeo

"Succulent I", 2018
Cement / Pigment on jute
48 x 37 x 5 cm

Exhibition view
Adrian Nagel / Eva Gentner:
"IV (smartphones)"
Soundinstallation for smartphones
Thessaloniki 2019

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"A composition for all smartphones in the room"
Visitors to the exhibition are invited to use their smartphones to call up a website, whereupon the loudspeakers of the devices quietly emit varying impulses. In the interaction of the impulses, a fragile network of click sounds emerges, which changes according to the number of visitors and their behavior.

from the series „dresses“, 2019
Cement / Pigment on jute, steel hook

Adrian Nagel / Eva Gentner:
„ebenen [Gewirk]“, 2017
Soundinstallation at Kunsthalle Baden-Baden
Cement carpet, Composition for 8 Speakers

Eva Gentner:
„Schnee III“, 2018
Cement / pigment on jute

"La Libertad", 2023
Edition of 10
Plaster, gold leaf, nail
23 x 23 cm

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The novel tells the story of Captain Ahab's hunt for the White Whale. It is set in the early 19th century, the time of whale hunting and the complete exploration of the world's oceans. Thousands of sperm whales were hunted annually and the spermaceti found in their foreheads was taken from them, shipped ashore and processed into candles and lamp oil. But for Ahab, oil is not of importance. He is looking for the White Whale, Moby Dick. He nails a gold coin, the Ecuadorian "La Libertad", into the mast of his ship and promises it to the member of his crew who sees the White Whale first. Together they wander for years through every corner of the world's oceans in search of the whale, facing their certain death. But the sea takes possession of them and drives Ahab insane. And so Ahab becomes one with the sea, and only in this state is he able to find the White Whale. Only when he ships through the ocean seemingly intuitively, when he gives up surveying, when he becomes completely 'whale', does he finally meet Moby Dick. But the whale rams the ship into pieces, so that it sinks with all the members of the crew. On the mast of the sinking ship, one of the sailors hammers a living bird - like a wind vane on a church spire. And what the sea had not already absorbed in the process of the story now disappears without a trace into the depths.

"Wind vane", 2023
Bird, nail
53 x 24 x 34 cm

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DER FUND
und das Institut für Skopophilie, 2023/26
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Collaboration with Adrian Nagel and Christopher Amm
Köpfe, 2023/24
12 drawings
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From the series "Boobs", 2021
Oil on canvas, Thistle
33 x 23 x 5 cm

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Outdoor sculpture:
"Transportable Buoy", 2021
145 x 240 cm
Aluminium / Screws
(Edition)

"Cy II", 2018
Cement / Pigment on jute
54 x 39 x 5 cm

„And there be a little rain sometime“, 2019
Edding on paper
29,7 x 21 cm

Collaboration with Adrian Nagel and Christopher Amm
Und Gärten mit Trauben, und die Olive und den Granatapfel – einander ähnlich und unähnlich, 2024
Cotton (dyed with pomegranate peel)
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Animation "Dying bird", 2020

o.T., 2018
Cement / Pigment on jute
approx. 50 x 40 x 5 cm

"post card edition: wanderings"
Valid stamp (1,45€) on card

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The series „post card edition: wanderings“ is based on the work „birddrawings“, a site-specific installation for the Einraumhaus-Residenz 2017. A motif of these „birddrawings“ is printed on stamps of the Deutsche Post. These have a valid postal value of 0,45€. On purchase, one of the stamps is stuck on a postcard, signed, the edition is noted and addressed to the recipient. The card is then sent by post, the stamp will be validated in the process. The shape and size of the postmark is determined arbitrarily by the respective postal office or by machine processing. Thus, each postcard is unique. Possible damages caused by shipping mark the surface of the light-colored cardboard. Since summer 2019, the reverse side of the postcard will have an additional €0.15 stamp.

Additionally the stamps work with an AR-App:

"Webarbeiten", 2017
Hand-woven cloth from untreated sheep sool

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The words ‚text‘ and ‚context‘ have their origin in the Latin verb ‚textere‘ (to weave, interlace, assemble) and thus indicate their semantic connection with textiles. Stories are texted, woven, spun. Textile is a world language in a global context. Things intertwine and constantly raise new questions. The „Webarbeiten“ (since 2017) is an unfinished project. The series of handwoven cloths, which has so far been divided into five parts, takes up and deepens the thoughts on the materiality, the time, the tapestry and the haptic of the cement works. The woven cloths (approx.40x60cm to approx.120x100cm) are made of untreated sheep wool. The weaving frame is a self-construction and does not have a comb, so that the warp threads develop an individual dynamic and draw an arbitrary fine pattern of white lines on the surface of the fabric. The „Webarbeiten“ do not have a predetermined form of presentation, but are taken into the hands of the viewer. The untreated, smelly sheep‘s wool is very scratchy and slightly impregnated with natural wool grease. Here and there, small pieces of straw and colour stains can be seen in the yarn. The cloths feel strangely stable and fragile at the same time.The words ‚text‘ and ‚context‘ have their origin in the Latin verb ‚textere‘ (to weave, interlace, assemble) and thus indicate their semantic connection with textiles. Stories are texted, woven, spun. Textile is a world language in a global context. Things intertwine and constantly raise new questions. The „Webarbeiten“ (since 2017) is an unfinished project. The series of handwoven cloths, which has so far been divided into five parts, takes up and deepens the thoughts on the materiality, the time, the tapestry and the haptic of the cement works. The woven cloths (approx.40x60cm to approx.120x100cm) are made of untreated sheep wool. The weaving frame is a self-construction and does not have a comb, so that the warp threads develop an individual dynamic and draw an arbitrary fine pattern of white lines on the surface of the fabric. The „Webarbeiten“ do not have a predetermined form of presentation, but are taken into the hands of the viewer. The untreated, smelly sheep‘s wool is very scratchy and slightly impregnated with natural wool grease. Here and there, small pieces of straw and colour stains can be seen in the yarn. The cloths feel strangely stable and fragile at the same time. Each woven cloth is accompanied by a sketch drawing that was made during the weaving process. The drawings/ sketches contain thoughts and texts that occupied Eva Gentner during the almost unbearably monotonous weaving process. In terms of content, they are based on lectures, podcasts and audio books, which deal with technical progress and the simultaneous contemporary demand for old cultural techniques, as well as the connection between imaging weaving technology and digitalisation.

from the series "action theory", 2020
Pencil on paper
29,7 x 21 cm

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The series "action theory" consists of drawings of found four-leaf clovers. They detail the respective abnormality of the leaf and show in botanical accuracy the 'luck'. According to Aristotle, the goal of all human activity is a life of well-being or happiness. The philosophical "action theory" deals with problems that arise in connection with action - especially human action. It is concerned with reasons and causes for action, with intentions and intentional actions, with the logical form of actions - and with the search for an ordering principle. It is assumed that every human action has a cause and an effect on the physical world. However, a weak point of action theory is the irrational / the unintentional / the abnormal / the coincidence: The so-called "problem of deviant causal chains". The series accompanies a set of short instagram stories. These videos, a few seconds long, show the finding of a clover leaf and the subsequent removal of the fourth leaf.

"Tsumugi", 2016
Canvas (sewn)
130 x 120 cm

„Hortensie quer“, 2017
Pigment / Cement on jute
28 x 38 x 5 cm

Two sculptures from the series
„sea marks“, 2018
Mixed media

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The sculptures from the series „sea marks“ are based on the shape of the buoy, a marking in the open field of the ocean. The filigree outdoor sculptures must be tied up so that they are not carried away by the wind.