Captain Pamphile
Sammlung Falckenberg / Deichtorhallen, Hamburg, Germany
An exhibition uncompromisingly based on a novel, for which nearly 60 artists were asked to respond the narrative passages of the book, might appear manneristic. If the 100-odd resulting works are solely paintings or other two-dimensional, narrative media, one could imagine the project collapsing into the ‘harmless’ terrain of the illustrative. Not so ‘Captain Pamphile: Ein Bildroman in Stücken’ (Captain Pamphile: A Pictorial Novel in Pieces), currently on view at the Sammlung Falckenberg, curated by Gunter Reski and Marcus Weber. By over-stretching the motto – or, as the curators put it ‘turning the narrative screw one twists too many’ – the result is a playful form of visual storytelling. The show flirts with the straightforward but goes beyond any homogeneity. A dark, burlesque and aloof visuality is created as painting meets drawing, printmaking or stitching on paper, card, canvas, foil or fabric.
The ‘Captain Pamphile’ theme is taken from a largely unknown 19th-century serialized novel by Alexandre Dumas, which follows the adventures of a voracious and greedy captain during the age of colonialism. Both the topic of slavery and more comedic episodes between the crew and various associated animals are the subjects of his satirical stories. For the two curators – artists themselves – Dumas’ theme might reflect the equally ruthless global financial situation today. The author’s characteristic illustrations and connections between various narrative strands serve as starting point for this visual adaptation of the novelistic.
If this provides the curators with a curatorial methodology reminiscent of a Petersburg hanging – the prominent historical model for showing a large number of artists – the careful introduction of the narration’s chronology prevents this endeavour from becoming overloaded or confusing. Short textual excerpts from the book – mounted discreetly on the walls or as massive printouts competing for attention with the artistic works – are literally woven into the show’s visuals. A variety of works also explores this translation of the textual into the visual using collage as a sequential model. Nadira Husain’s exquisite and vibrantly coloured allusions to miniature painting in Capitain Pamphile, Kapitel 12/Chapter 12 [Collage] (2009) stand out in their attempt to build various narrative scenarios into a formalistic whole. Detailed patterns and figurines are embedded in larger monochrome areas. The fascinating tensions between individuals, close-ups or spatial overviews result in comical seriality with a kaleidoscopic impact. Isa Melsheimer’s patchwork flag, Gazelle (2010), also introduces various sequences in a combination of fabric, drawing and stitching into its own delightful perspective on storytelling. Here characters and words come forth and disappear in an ornate, literally interwoven background.
Proceeding through the galleries, Wawrzyniec Tokarski’s painted canvas sign reading Sorry, we’re out of fair trade. Sorry (2009) comments on a scene from the book about slavery by appearing as commercial signage, as if completely undisturbed by its theme. In contrast, Sophie von Hellermann portrays the interior of a ship’s storeroom in Encore une! (2010), a visual exclamation of that oppressive episode. Her technique of painting with pigments creates a cloudy visuality evoking the inherent claustrophobic atmosphere. Christoph Prasch’s Der Handel und sein Kapitän Pamphile ziehen weiter (The Trade and Its Captain Move On, 2010) introduces painting itself as a trade, with a stack of canvases on the floor. Lyrical evocation powerfully comes to the fore in Markus Vater’s acrylic painting Silbermondnacht (Silver Moon Night, 2009). The dreamy atmosphere in this depiction of a journey through a dark forest invokes some of the fairylike associations of its destination – a masquerade ball. Attempting to find one’s way into Andraes Seltzer’s exquisite mazelike ink drawings of Paris (2010) means getting lost in the details. These eclipse any sense of overview in a continuous back and forth, hence also portraying Captain Pamphile’s narrative intertextualities and flashbacks.
Ultimately, the paintings here seem to be chosen as specific responses to narrative scenes. This combination is the main protagonist in a masquerade between pop, romanticism, expressionism, new realism or hyperrealism and objectivity. Naturally, the reductive danger inherent in this approach lingers, in particular when the works appear repetitive rather than evocative. In general, however, the show evades such a literal reduction. Instead, referring to the embedded storyline here calls forth the changing atmospheres of the narration. In turn, the works’ specific media and their inherent possibilities step forth and, surprisingly – if one lets oneself in for this – this is where one really starts to see the works. Rarely does one witness the deconstruction of painting’s meta-narrative, or as the curators say ‘fixed’ genre through the juxtapositions of its own variations without resulting in formalistic exercises. Let’s hope that the new cooperation between Sammlung Falckenberg and Deichtorhallen Hamburg inspires further such uncompromising artistic and curatorial statements.
Ann-Cathrin Drews
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