Dear Leader
November 17 - December 28, 2013
Grey Noise, Dubai
For Dear Leader — her first solo show at Grey Noise, Ingrid Hora presents works on paper, along with a glimpse into her sculptural practice, inspired by the relationship between individuals and masses, between control and society.
The exhibition’s main piece is entitled No Motherland Without You which consists of 192 hand-painted sheets of paper covering the gallery’s rear 15 meter-long wall. Most sheets are monochromes, while a few consist of two or three fields of contrasting colours. Together they form a pixelated and monumental abstract painting. No Motherland Without You is a reproduction of a fragment of one of the gigantic mosaic pictures created by more than 30,000 North Korean school children during the Arirang Mass Games. Held at the May Day Stadium, each child holds up coloured cards according to a strict, meticulously rehearsed choreography.
By showcasing only fragments of the immense original picture, the figuration is lost; however new details are revealed. One notices the papers’ texture and imperfections. Each 'pixel' acquires its individuality. Each of the 30,000 individuals participating in the mass performance are intimately inferred.
The titles are clues to the background story of the apparently formal artworks. As the last truly secluded place in the world, North Korea is seen by many as a nation-sized cult that generates both fear and fascination.
Taking it as a point of departure for reflection upon the notions of authorship and originality, Ingrid Hora is highlighting the manner in which a craft based production, expressed through individual dedication, comes to speak about the ideology of another more dominant individual: the beloved Dear Leader.
About The Artist
Ingrid Hora / b. 1976, Italy / Lives and works in Berlin
Ingrid Hora received a BA in Architecture at Technical University in Vienna, Austria, an MA from the Bartlett School of Architecture, London and an MA from the Royal College of Art, London, UK. Based on the research of specific historical and geographical contexts, Hora’s work reflects upon the notion of "social cement". She is interested in revealing the hidden cracks or the overall fragility in a collective edifice. How do people cope with norms? What happens when a set of norms collapses or changes dramatically? Hora doesn't provide didactic answers, instead, offers poetic and empathic observations of the world as it is or could be.
Ingrid Hora was a fellow of Akademie Schloss Solitude in Stuttgart; Akiyoshidai International Art Village in Japan; Casino Luxembourg, Khoj in Delhi and at Art Centre, Los Angeles. She has taught at the Royal College of Art, Architectural Association and London Met.
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