Abstract

Lothar Götz has designed a theatrical environment, incorporating wall works, new paintings on linen, screen–printed fabric and a trio of vitrines presenting a series of drawings on paper, all using a palette dominated by three colours: yellow, pink and black, which together create a stage set–like space inspired by Schlemmer. Presented like a sketch for a performance, the installation, through referencing this classic 1922 Bauhaus work, explores the relationship between architecture, dance and theatre and themes relating to desire, sexuality, identity and the abstract/human divide.

Götz's exhibition 'Pas de Trois' pays tribute in particular to three of Schlemmer's sketches 'Kostümentwürfe zum Triadischen Ballett' 1922 (Museum of Germanic Culture, Cambridge, Mass.)

Götz describes the work as his own 'dance in the head', inspired both by the Ballet and by Schlemmer himself, an artist to whom he has long felt close in spirit. While this is the first time Götz has referenced the 'Triadic Ballet' directly in his work, he first came across it when a student in Aachen (1983–88) – giving his first talk there about Schlemmer – at a time when he himself was not sure whether to become an actor, artist or a dancer. It was Schlemmer's work that underlined the possibilities to combine these interests through art.

Taking its cue from the formal, abstract language of Schlemmer's costumes, this work reverses the original translation of 2D representation into 3D form, taking it back into shape, plane and colour.

Götz sees this as a work that will only be complete when people enter into the exhibition space. As such it invites reflection upon the relationships between the abstract and the human, form and movement, and material and colour, and references not only the legacy of modernist ideas, but draws on other art historical and popular cultural references such as the baroque and gay club culture: spaces of desire and dream.

Positioned between the figure and the abstract, the exhibition will act like a dance between theatre, art and architecture.

'Pas de Trois' is accompanied by an essay written for this body of work by Sarah Kelleher (see link below), PhD Candidate in History of Art at the University College Cork (Government of Ireland Scholar, and CACSSS Postgraduate Scholar).