Anouchka Oler

It is forbidden to feed the sculptures / 18.4. – 30.6.2013 / Eröffnung Mi, 17.4, 18 Uhr / OG2 – Kölnischer Kunstverein / Performance So, 30.6., 16 Uhr, Esprit Shop, Hohe Straße 160 / Anouchka Oler für Artblog Cologne

„I’d maybe blush a little bit or stop looking at you in the eyes and tell you that I consider myself as the mum of my sculptures, and I’d correct myself by adding that I am only acting as their mum.
See, I was obsessed with a picture of my dad that I got last summer. It’s a snapshot of him holding a dressed baby chimpanzee when he was a teenager. His smile transpires embarrassment and the gesture of his arms towards the monkey appears to be protective; one is placed on his belly, covered by the monkey’s elbow, which is itself covered by my dad’s other hand. The boy needs one hand to allow the monkey to remain seated comfortably; the extra hand applied on the belly is the loving or protecting hand. In fact his gesture might not be protective; the lightly crouched baby animal might drive this feeling. It is slightly ambiguous whether we are embarrassed by the human holding a dressed chimpanzee or by the chimpanzee engaged in a manipulative relationship, forced to wear clothes to bring him closer to humanness.“
Anouchka Oler (*1988) ist Absolventin des Piet Zwart Institutes, Rotterdam und lebt in Brüssel.