Vera Roehm

Description

Vera R?hm's name comes up in discussions of contemporary constructive art as an unorthodox example of the sculptural approach. Since the very beginning of her artistic career she has been concerned with a repertoire of elementary geometrical shapes. Her approach plays upon different kinds of distortion: incisions, cross-sections, mutilation and restoration/reconstruction; which bring about an increased richness of form and complexity, and challenge the viewer's imagination. Metamorphosis of materials in Integrations, multiplication of shapes in Shadow Objects, not to forget her photographs of the Jaipur Observatory - all of these offer unexpected angles on the real world. When her works include written words - as is the case of her cube-series bearing the inscription 'Night Is The Shadow of The Earth' - this can be associated with Concrete Poetry. Her work in general also falls within the tradition of Constructivism, although there is an almost temperamental inclination to geometrical form, which is always manifest in the rich variations of shape that inform her sculptures. This first comprehensive presentation of the artist's work in the English language is accompanied by essays by the renowned poet and critic Eugen Gomringer and the art historian Stephen Bann.

Eugen Gomringer was one of the founders of the Concrete Poetry movement and has published many volumes of poetry and essays on poetics. Stephen Bann is professor in the Department of History of Art at the University of Bristol and has published widely in the field of contemporary art. He is coeditor of Interpreting Contemporary Art; the editor of Frankenstein, Creation and Monstrosity; and the author of Paul Delaroche: History Painted, all published by Reaktion Books.