Since the nineties, when she became known in exhibitions curated by Luis Serpa, Susanne SD Themlitz (Lisbon, 1968) has developed a body of work that, with a unique perspective, explores reality through everyday elements, elevating them as protagonists of an ambiguous and suggestive world. His latest exhibition, 'El lenguaje de las cosas mudas', is currently on display at MARCO (Museum of Contemporary Art in Vigo).
In this multifaceted project, Themlitz transforms the exhibition space into a microcosm that unfolds a vast and multifaceted imaginary, where drawings, paintings, photographs, sculptures, videos and objects collected from the museum's warehouses are combined to create landscapes. His work - and this exhibition is an obvious example - defends that objects not only exist, but that they carry within themselves the traces of everything they have contained and experienced. Themlitz searches for the invisible, goes beyond the obvious, exploring the small details and considering what world is hidden behind each texture.
Formed between Portugal and Germany, Themlitz has developed a visual language that oscillates between serenity and provocation. Inspired by figures such as Sigmar Polke, Thomas Schütte and Juan Muñoz , the artist breaks away from formal rigidity and explores in her creations a combination of narrative, metamorphosis and sound. While many Portuguese artists of her generation opt for specific lines of work, she prefers to fuse cultural elements that define her: fragment and synthesis, landscape and promenade, chaos and order.
'El lenguaje de las cosas mudas'. © MARCO
During the creative process at MARCO, Themlitz has made the exhibition rooms a dialogue with the space itself. The corridors, walls and hidden corners become part of his work with the intention of revealing the "body" of the museum and, at the same time, transfiguring it. Thus, the exhibition includes striking visual and sound installations such as a structure of bamboo reeds or pieces of white plaster that evoke fossils or dead corals. Beyond the visual impact, the exhibition incorporates space for literary poetry with verses by Themlitz herself, which are accompanied by collages of human and animal images.
In this project, which can be visited until April, Themlitz assumes the role of a contemporary archaeologist, rescuing forgotten elements and integrating them into her work, including pieces acquired from antique dealers in Vigo. In short, a whole multisensory experience in which each MARCO room is presented as a different proposal, turning the exhibition into a journey through his artistic career, but also capturing the essence of MARCO and the city of Vigo itself.
'El lenguaje de las cosas mudas'. © José Lores
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