Artists

Marcel Odenbach

Press release

Galerie Gisela Capitain is pleased to announce the exhibition Where was the point of no return with new works by Marcel Odenbach. In his third exhibition at Galerie Gisela Capitain, Odenbach is presenting seven works on paper and one video work.

Marcel Odenbach has been one of the pioneering artists of video art since the 1970s. In addition to his video installations, complex paper collages play a central role in his current oeuvre. Themes such as the confrontation with Germany's Nazi past, the consequences of colonialism in Africa and social issues relating to racism, discrimination and xenophobia constitute the core of his work. Odenbach addresses these subjects in an analytical manner, while simultaneously formulating his own unease. His works are characterised by a personal approach and autobiographical references, as well as an intensive engagement with historical documentary material.

The works created for the exhibition shed light on complex social structures that are close to the reality of the artist's life. In his new works on paper, Odenbach is responding to recent political and social events. Current issues such as youth and migration policy in Germany, Western consumerism and its impact on the environment, and the rise of nationalism are critically examined. The autobiographical video work Where was the point of no return is a collage of archived video footage that Odenbach recorded during his extensive travels in Europe, Africa, Asia and America between 1984 and 2020.

Odenbach applies collage and montage techniques to combine different perspectives and historical layers of time. His works are composed of archive material and his own photographs, which he condenses into visually multi-layered narratives. This structure allows switching between close and distant perspectives: From a distance, his collages appear as closed surfaces, which on closer inspection consist of countless small pictorial elements. In this manner, the surface structure can be grasped as a dynamic arrangement of numerous individual images that illuminate diverse facets of a given topic and prompt the viewer to undertake a detailed analysis of these elements.

For Odenbach, collage represents a means of creative expression that is also an analytical tool, enabling the visualisation of the interweaving of individual and collective memories. The combination of layers and superimpositions enables him to contextualise and question historical events and cultural narratives simultaneously. The resulting works explore the intricate structure of history and memory, prompting viewers to engage with the visible and invisible layers of these subjects through their own discernment.