“Mit Kinderschuhen und Krawatten”
By Lay, Franz Josef
Sudkurier, Ravensburg, Germany, June 21, 2002

“WITH CHILDREN’S SHOES AND NECKTIES”
Paintings and sculptures of two New York artists at the Galerie Rössler in Ravensburg.

Galerie Rössler brings to our area an atmosphere of a world metropolis through an exhibition of the paintings and sculptures of Barbara Bachner and Michael Fattizzi through July 31 (extended to August 31)*. Both artists live in New York and their work explores different issues.

(…) There is a climb to a deeper sentiment and dimension of the senses in the work of Barbara Bachner, who, with her objects and collages achieves personal expression. We can begin with one object, black lacquered children’s shoes for a child’s first excursion into the world. Here the entry into life is objectified. The work speaks about the force that, according to ancient belief, is transmitted from the foot itself into the footwear. Afterwards, Barbara Bachner asks, “Who Are We?”. Through diary texts, gestural paintings, or photographs worked in a special technique, she illuminates her personal situation. Her life experiences have exposed her to many dangers and this appears repeatedly expressed through the works. Furthermore, in her large acrylic work, “Memory Activation Synthesis” (based on Gustave Flaubert’s “Madame Bovary)*, she is seeking to master the past: on small white and red colored circles, there are coded words and expressions such as, “Silent Devotion”, and “Black People”. (Referring to Emma’s life and her own diaries).
In her artist’s book and on two white wax-covered panels are written more texts, aesthetic metaphors. Bachner returns to a more traditional way of presentation with “My Hero”, a group of objects made out of gilded male apparel; above military boots are suspended men’s briefs and a baseball cap, which, in their rather pop appearance, counterbalance the strongly interiorized text images, therefore revealing the expansiveness of her work.

*Translator’s Notes