On 22 October 2014 Austria Post will issue a commemorative stamp saluting the photographic art of URSULA MAYER The continuation of the popular “Austrian Photographic Art” series is again dedicated this year to a contemporary media artist: Ursula Mayer – an internationally popular artist whose total installations comprising videos, photographs, sculptures and performances generate a density that encompasses and challenges the observer. Ursula Mayer was born in Upper Austria in 1970, and attended the Academy of Fine Arts in Vienna. Even during this period, she was attracted to London, where she studied at the Royal College of Art and later completed a Masters degree at Goldsmiths College. In 1996, Ursula Mayer began to exhibit around the world, and to date her works have been exhibited inter alia in cities such as London, New York, Rome, Paris, Helsinki, Moscow, Berlin and Vienna. Alongside other awards, she was awarded the Msgr. Otto Mauer prize in 2007, and in 2011 she was awarded a fellowship by the International Studio and Curatorial Program (ISCP) in New York. Mayer’s films and videos attract particular recognition. An important element of her work is the repetition of dreamlike scenes and sequences, whose small variations permit ever-changing interpretations, thereby including the observer and confirming him in his role. Thanks to these almost surreal repetitions, the classical narrative thread of a film is broken open; strong images, artistically arranged scenery and the apparent lack of a storyline intensify the effect of her works. A further significant feature of Ursula Mayer’s films is the relationship between the characters and the architectural spaces in which they move. 2006 saw the production of the three-minute film “Interiors”, which particularly emphasises this relationship. The film was shot in architect Ernö Goldfinger’s house in the London district of Hampstead, which above all in the 1930s was the meeting point for artists and intellectuals, and today houses a significant modern art collection. “Interiors” shows repeating gestures and interactions of two similar women of different ages who are in this house but never encounter each other. The absence of dialogues and the economical use of a soundtrack reinforce the specific atmosphere of the film. The stamp shows an extract from “Interiors”. The sculpture by the British sculptress Barbara Hepworth in the foreground forms a central element in the film – it is the symbol for the silent communication between the two generations of women and through its hypnotic rotation determines the rhythm and movements of the short film. [Source: Austria Post]
Posted on: Mon, 08 Sep 2014 22:30:09 +0000
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