February 27 - July 18, 2010

With five large-format slide projections, several photo series, and a song project for the Internet, K21 presents the first museum-based overview of the work of Belgian artist Ana Torfs (born 1963 and, lives and works in Brussels).

Representation and visualisation, reality and fiction form the cornerstones of Ana Torfs' installations which consist of projected images (usually black and white slides) and texts.

In precisely choreographed audiovisual constellations Torfs brings to life literary, historical and political material. In these projects the artist works with actors who embody their roles in a demonstratively matter-of-fact and functional way. Documents on Joan d'Arc, a famous one act play by the symbolist poet Maurice Maeterlinck but also testimonies from Rosa Luxemburg and Karl Liebknecht's murder trial serve as starting points for room-filling installations such as 'Du mentir-faux' (About Lying Falsehood), 2000, 'The Intruder', 2004, or 'Anatomy', 2006.

Ana Torfs has been practising and developing her method of subtly dissecting and superimposing places, people, voices and atmospheres for over fifteen years. In doing so, she draws on a repertoire of dramatic, photographic and cinematic techniques.

An extensive catalogue "ANA TORFS - ALBUM/TRACKS A+B", designed by Jurgen Persijn will appear in connection with the show. The catalogue is edited by Sabine Folie and Doris Krystof  and contains texts by Mieke Bal, Anselm Franke, Michael Glasmeier, Steven Jacobs, Friedrich Meschede, Kassandra Nakas and Catherine Robberechts and also an interview with Ana Torfs by Gabriele Mackert (Verlag Moderen Kunst, Nürnberg, germ./engl., 204 pages, circa 300 reproductions, 29,95 euro).

More information:
www.kunstsammlung.de

Image: Ana Torfs, The Intruder, 2004, Installationsansicht, Roomade, Brüssel, 2004, Installation mit Diaprojektion auf schwarzem Untergrund, synchronisierte Audiofassung, Dimensionen variabel, Courtesy of the artist, © Ana Torfs, 2009