Man, among influences and changes
It is a man that undergoes inquiry, placed under an in-depth and complete analysis; a man that cannot escape external influences that irreparably condition and mould him, His very nature brings him to be subject to news, that infiltrates and channels itself in his very person, often making it a cortex that sees and that feels but that doesn’t act in front of the crudest reality that surrounds him. The works of Liz Gehrer, Swiss artist of extraordinary creative abilities, represent a human figure that is easily influenced by the exterior and the environment around it; her representations seize the surroundings, study the matter that makes up the figure itself, scratch and plough the roots of vulnerability and the strength itself of the relations by which we are distinguished. Liz Gehrer’s man is a man of the moment. The passing of time and of his time should bring him to filter external energies with greater caution and attention, those that too often reduce his figure which is too thin and vertical, thus unstable, land of tears and lacerations. Only when sustained, confined, limited, as what happened for the Greek mythology prophet Proteus, son of Oceanus, whom ceases to change form and to escape only when he is seized, only then will he solidify his relations. The path to which Liz Gehrer points us is a web of reflection and of spaces in which to explore this inextricable mystery made by man and his own fragilities.
It’s an impressive yet light work at the same time. Beflügelt, literally “Winged”, represents a true and actual status. It encoded in full view the summary of the collective message of the Swiss artist Liz Gehrer, in the eyes of the observer it’s presented as a set of white wings supported by nylon prepared with paper, glue and plaster.
Its extraordinary essence apparently devoid of gravity, simulates flight, frees the observer and projects them into an area devoid of any coercive structure, in an area with no limit. All this, in the daily life of the human being is represented by bonds, and interpreted in the strength or weakness of the reports; it’s represented by the forces and external agents that bend the essence, and from the same force of gravity that can always anchor the structure to the ground.
Liz Gehrer’s message in her representation is more ethereal and direct, it indicates a road; it shows that in order to release one’s self from the seriousness itself, in order to take flight, and to be able to realize the changes in the life of the human being, it’s necessary to persevere and one needs a lot of strength.
The temperature, humidity and gravity itself have folded the wings and their structure, just like the external forces, the daily life and their applications, bend and shape the man. All this does not weld the base to the ground, but wisely it can elevate, raise and support it from above. The wings of Liz Gehrer are just like that; wings are supported from above, and are totally uprooted from the ground. It’s a wonderful journey in the freedom of the ego, it’s a sense of elation, and is the inner feeling that man must absorb in order to take the path of his own dreams.
There is an extreme dynamism in the work due to its dual externality of grandeur and at the same time consists of delicate petals which form the vertical tree structure. Beflügelt is suspended like a state of transcendent ecstasy and this is the closest sensation that transmits the entire structure of the Gehrer, showing large suspended and light white petals, to resemble the romantic look of the shining cloth of the garment of the Transfiguration of Raphael. The whole figure, wrapped in a white coat in fact elevates it upwards, just like Beflügelt, in a graceful flight when his own perspective varies from time to time, all the time suspended from the earthly reality.
Liz Gehrer’s ability to compose individual wings working with poor materials and often considered recyclable material, makes the work unique and extraordinary in its composition, she also manages to provide a structure in itself imposing yet elegant, a look which, when the observer is faced with this, can’t help but get involved in the unusual, in search of new answers.
Alessandro Schiavetti, curator of the foundation Hermann Geiger, Cecina (LI), Italy, in: Liz Gehrer, L’uomo, fra influssi e cambiamenti, catalogue edited by Alessandro Schiavetti for the Hermann Geiger foundation on the occasion of Liz Gehrer’s exposition, Cecina (LI), 2011