Koller - PostWar & Contemporary 2. Dezember 2021

3488* KRIS MARTIN (Kortrijk 1972 - lives and works in Mullem) The End. 2006. Mirror with foil. 200 × 300 cm. With artist‘s frame. Provenance: - Artist‘s studio. - Purchased directly from the artist by the present owner, since then collection Germany. Born in 1972, the Belgian Kris Martin, with his multifacetedœuvre of drawings, sculptures, installations and photographs, is one of the most influential artists within contemporary conceptual art, which has a long tradition in Belgium. With his partici- pation in the 4th Berlin Biennale in 2006, Kris Martin‘s work became accessible to a larger, international art public, and the pre- sentation at P.S.1 in New York that followed in 2007 consolidated his reputation. Martin‘s œuvre deals with human exis- tence and its contradictions, analysing situations with poetry, wit and humour, but also vehemence. He often draws on fami- liar materials, sometimes altering them to challenge the viewer‘s awareness. The present large-format work is a mirror with the words „The End“ – a set phrase we know from the cinema, from books, etc – written in reverse. As viewers, we become part of this work, because we see ourselves in the mirror. However, Martin cleverly plays with our perception, because while we are being reflected, the writing is indeed back-to-front, but remains static. With every movement, the viewer‘s image changes, but the writing completely eludes this change. This realisation is surprising because, from experience, we expect it to be otherwise. „The End“ is an existential question that the artist poses with this work, but gives the viewer room for manoeuvre, and thus at the same time challenges them not to surrender to this finality, but to question their lives. CHF 15 000 / 25 000 (€ 14 020 / 23 360) | 94 PostWar & Contemporary