Rosemarie Trockel

Rosemarie Trockel, She Is Dead 4, 2008.

Rosemarie Trockel takes materials and processes traditionally associated with women and uses them in bold, unexpected ways. In this arresting solo show, the Cologne-based German conceptual artist’s usual thwarting of familiar objects becomes a meditation on memory and loss.

Trockel’s She Is Dead collage series references a difficult consequence of losing a loved one: disposing of the clothing left behind. In She Is Dead 4, the artist pieces together an outfit that seemingly belonged to an older woman: Garments of delicate white fabric, blue gingham and fur are heaped on top of an antique cushioned bench, while fashionable white boots and a set of keys sit on the brown carpet nearby, apparently awaiting their owner. Trockel’s informal assemblage of color photographs reinforces the work’s lack of sentimentality.

For the sculpture landscapian shroud of my mother, a haunting Minimalist memorial, Trockel drapes a black shroud over glossy white steel rectangles that rest on a white plastic platform. dream tank is harder to understand but equally poetic in its contrast between the sculpture’s initial resemblance to a cardboard box and the durable cast-bronze container that viewers discover upon closer inspection.

Trockel’s tugs at our heartstrings feel sincere. Even in her more abstract pieces, she successfully marries everyday experience with art.