First Monograph: Birke Gorm

9 Jun

We are delighted to announce that the third in our annual series of First Monograph publications is dedicated to the artist Birke Gorm.

Birke Gorm is a Danish-German artist whose work deals with material that is superfluous, unsaleable and therefore considered “dead” material in capitalist systems, such as worn clothes or old jute bags. She examines this material by re-appropriating domestic labour, such as sewing – to give this dead and found material new meaning. She has had several group and solo exhibitions and is represented by Croy Nielsen Gallery. The publication features several contributions, one conversation and a photographic essay.

Michelle Millar Fisher, curator of contemporary decorative arts within the contemporary art department at the MFA Boston, contributed a text that covers several themes within Birke’s work, such as the “dead” material that is given a new life, and the act of appropriating the “feminine” act of sewing as a symbol of power and emancipation by providing historical context of women in industrial textile towns like Dundee, Scotland, becoming the sole bread-winner of their family in the 19th century.

The conversation took place between Birke Gorm and artist Hannah Heilmann, where they compared and contrasted their approach to material and art making in general. Heilmann is a multi-media artist who considers the dreamy and disturbing elements of life simultaneously. She challenges traditional exhibition formats, putting the role of the artist and the status of the artwork at stake, with the works often assuming the character of props, costumes or necessitating social interaction.

The photographic essay was created by photographer Daniela Trost, who took photos of Gorm’s studio with a specific focus on the material which Birke collects and neatly arranges in her studio. These stacked materials, currently unused, are “waiting material” for future artworks.

The First Monographs are an annual series of publications produced by Phileas that aim to introduce the work of the most promising emerging Austrian and Austrian-based artists to a wider international audience. For this publication, Phileas will once again collaborate with the German publishing house DISTANZ and graphic designer Marie Artaker. The book will be published in autumn 2024.