JACKY STRENZ
12.06. - 14.08.2021

Lin May Saeed
Rami

We are pleased to announce Lin May Saeed’s 8th Solo Exhibition with the gallery.

For the past 15 years, the practice of Lin May Saeed has focused on the history of the human animal relationship. In 2006 she started the series “The liberation of animals from their cages”, addressing animal subjugation, liberation, and coexistence with humans. Lin May Saeed’s works shine light on power structures and prompt the viewers to renew their thinking and actions. The iconographic frame of reference includes Egyptian statuary, Greco-Roman sculpture and natural history museum displays. Utilizing a wide range of media, such as styrofoam, plaster, paper and steel, the works are often made of so-called poor materials.

For the current exhibition Rami, the artist focused on drawing, relief and sculpture. The motifs of her recent reliefs can be characterized as anthropocene landscapes, re-evaluating the kinship between the so-called natural world and humanity. Two of the central sculptural works are animal figures standing on their cages: a semi-abstract figure that resembles an aquatic early mammal, and the figure of a pangolin, which is the most trafficked wild animal today.

“I would like to leave the anthropocentric view. Even if this will not work completely, maybe it will be at least possible to put it into perspective. Looking at animals I face opacity. They are so much `the Other´, especially in man-made, predominantly mono speciesist urban environments. Trying to grasp the space between me and an animal, something opens up like a journey through time. When I think of materiality, currently I am interested in the idea of downgrading. When for instance a cast bronze is being lacquered matte white, and again it gets the feel of the styrofoam that it was before. The most important material, however, is the time spent with the works.” (Lin May Saeed on her work)

The textual element of the exhibition is the publication The Black Sheep, especially printed for the exhibition. The text contains a transcription of a controversy that took place in the context of a talk show broadcasted in 2001, between an animal rights activist and several adversaries of his ideas.

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Lin May Saeed (*1973) graduated in sculpture at Art Academy Düsseldorf. She lives and works in Berlin.

Solo shows include (selection): Arrival of the Animals (c: Robert Wiesenberger), The Clark Art Institute, Williamstown, US (2020); Lin May Saeed & Max Brand, What Pipeline, Detroit, US (2019); Girl with Cat, Jacky Strenz, Frankfurt/Main (2019); Biene, Studio Voltaire (c: Joe Scotland), London, UK (2018); Djamil (c: Chris Sharp), Lulu, Mexico City, MX (2017).

Recent and upcoming group shows include (selection): Eurasia -A Landscape of Mutability (c: Joanna Zielinska and Nav Haq), Museum of Contemporary Art Anwerp, BE (2021/22); Future of Futures (c: Olivia Aherne), Nottingham Contemporary, UK (2021/22); Amsterdam Sculpture Biennale (c: Cintha van Heeswijck), NL (2021); Espressioni (c: Carolyn Christov-Bakargiev), Museo Castello di Rivoli, Turino, IT (2021); La Mer Imaginaire (c: Chris Sharp), Fondation Carmignac, Porquerolles, FR (2021); Crack Up – Crack Down (c: Slavs and Tatars), Ujazdowski Castle Centre for Contemporary Art,Warsaw, PL (2020); Biennial of Graphic Arts, Ljubljana (c: Slavs and Tatars), SVN (2019); City Prince/sses (c: Hugo Vitrani and Chris Sharp), Palais de Tokyo, Paris, FR (2019); Good Space Communities -oder das Versprechen von Glück (c: Andreas Baur), Villa Merkel, Esslingen, DE (2019); Class Reunion – Works from the Gaby and Wilhelm Schürmann Collection, mumok, Vienna, AT (2018); Wilderness (c: Esther Schlicht), Schirn Kunsthalle Frankfurt, DE (2018); Metamorphosis (c: Chus Martínez), Museo Castello di Rivoli, Turino, IT (2018); La Fin de Babylone (c: Chus Martínez), KölnSkulptur#9, Cologne (2017); 9. Berlin Biennale (c: DIS), DE (2016).

Recent Reviews (selection):

Seaking Beyond Language: Lin May Saeed interviewed by Osman Can Yerebakan, in: Bomb Magazine, Feb 11, 2021 >
Terence Trouillot, Lin May Saeed’s Non Human Animals, Review, in: Frieze, Dec 29, 2020 >
Emily Watlington, The Art of Animal Liberation, Review, in: Art in America, Oct 6, 2020 >
Holly Bushman, Arrival of the Animals, Review, in: The Brooklyn Rail, Jul, 2020 >

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On occasion of Lin May Saeed’s first museum survey “Arrival of the Animals” at The Clark Art Institute Williamstown, USA (2020), a monograph was published at Yale University Press, edited by Robert Wiesenberger.

Lin May Saeed has been represented by Jacky Strenz since 2006.