Exhibitions
NIBELUNGENLIED Genia Chef
The NIBELUNGENLIED is a legendary epic so many have heard of, while few know the original.
This medieval heroic saga has famously been depicted in film, theatre, the operas of Richard
Wagner, as well as in sculptures, graphic representations and paintings.
The Russian artist Genia Chef, who has lived in the West for decades, is fascinated by the tragic
violence of this epic; the eternal drama of love-hate, loyalty and betrayal, power games and battles, which through their rich contrasts are as if made for graphic interpretation. He draws with bird feathers and ink on papier déchiré prepared with tea stains and, as the art critic Mark Gisbourne writes in his foreword to the exhibition catalogue, uses „controlled chance“ for his elaborate picture cycle. “Chef’s drawings are less about storytelling but rather about illuminating a world.”
Genia Chef, Aventiure XXV, 1572, Hagen steers the boat of the Burgundians on the way to King Etzel, mixed media on paper, 2020, 18,5 x 23,5 cm
Genia Chef, Aventiure XXI, 1295, Kriemhild reaches Passau Monastery on her way to King Etzel, mixed media on paper, 2020, 20 x 27 cm
Genia Chef, Aventiure XIV, 873, Hagen persuades Gunther to have Siegfried killed, mixed media on paper, 2020, 13 x 20,5 cm
Genia Chef, Aventiure XXV, 1572, Hagen steers the Burgundy boat on its way to King Etzel, mixed media on paper, 2020, 18,5 x 23,5 cm