Solo show: Thorsten Passfeld - Du konntest es nicht sein Liebling (over)

	Thorsten Passfeld

LEVY Galerie LEVY Galerie Osterfeldstrasse 6 22529 Hamburg Germany (city map) Send E-mail tel +49 - (0) 40 - 45 91 88 www.levy-galerie.de

Wood is the material with which Thorsten Passfeld (*1975 in Dinslaken) constructs his wall objects, sculptures, installations and even whole houses. Passfeld initially studied Visual Communication and then Painting at the University of Fine Arts Hamburg. However he frequently felt a strong urge to go beyond the visual and was drawn to a material he could work on directly with his own hands and also use to develop autonomous larger structures.

In recent years Passfeld has created coloured, relief-like wall objects assembled using individual pieces of wood. In these works, the wooden object and text form an ironic alliance and the sculptural approach to wood corresponds to Passfeld's original affinity for painting. In his works Passfeld deconstructs the bourgeois universe of wooden banners and instead of the maxims of idyllic moral uprightness, the imperative is used, and adherence to these particular commands holds a promise of social acceptance in contrasting milieus: Please become nonchalant, sporty, successful, popular and beautiful.' With the commission to construct a 1:1 replica of the Oberhafenkantine (Oberhafen canteen) in Hamburg, Passfeld completed the work cycle "Häuser aus Holz" (wooden houses) in summer 2009. The artist built these houses by himself and they stood for only a short time in public spaces as temporary sculptures that could be accessed and utilized.

The material aesthetics of Passfeld's objects in wood intentionally undermine the prevailing criteria of the art business. The artist poses the question of whether or not true small-mindedness can be found in just the place where aesthetics and materials are disrespectfully looked down on because they do not correspond to what one considers or should consider cool.