exhibition view MANDLA REUTER, Armilla, Galerie Mezzanin Vienna, 2014/15
photo: (c) ROBERT GRUBER

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Untitled, 2012
cardboard box, structure paint, Swiss International Airlines blanket
60 cm x 60 cm x 97 cm

City, 2014
wood, steel, PE water pipe, pump, Evian water, other materials
dimensions variable

behind door:

Double, 2014
one of two sets of custom-made suits, shirts, shoes
dimensions variable

paintings and cardboard pizza house by Francis Reuter

exhibition view MANDLA REUTER, Armilla, Galerie Mezzanin Vienna, 2014/15
photo: (c) ROBERT GRUBER

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Out, 2014
concrete, steel
68 cm x 10 cm, 87 cm x 11 cm, 78 cm x 17 cm
overall dimensions variable

Night, 2014
sodium-vapor lamp
dimensions variable

Untitled, 2012
cardboard box, structure paint, Swiss International Airlines blanket
60 cm x 60 cm x 97 cm

City, 2014
wood, steel, PE water pipe, pump, Evian water, other materials
dimensions variable

paintings and cardboard pizza house by Francis Reuter

exhibition view MANDLA REUTER, Armilla, Galerie Mezzanin Vienna, 2014/15
photo: (c) ROBERT GRUBER

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Untitled, 2014
blueprint mounted on canvas
181,5 cm x 128 cm x 6 cm incl. frame

Untitled, 2014
blueprint mounted on canvas
126 cm x 170 cm x 6 cm incl. frame

Untitled, 2014
blueprint mounted on canvas
128 cm x 159 cm x 6 cm incl. frame

Untitled, 2014
blueprint mounted on canvas
120 cm x 138 cm x 6 cm incl. frame

exhibition view MANDLA REUTER, Armilla, Galerie Mezzanin Vienna, 2014/15
photo: (c) ROBERT GRUBER

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exhibition view MANDLA REUTER, Armilla, Galerie Mezzanin Vienna, 2014/15
photo: (c) ROBERT GRUBER

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exhibition view MANDLA REUTER, Armilla, Galerie Mezzanin Vienna, 2014/15
photo: (c) ROBERT GRUBER

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exhibition view MANDLA REUTER, Armilla, Galerie Mezzanin Vienna, 2014/15
photo: (c) ROBERT GRUBER

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exhibition view MANDLA REUTER, Armilla, Galerie Mezzanin Vienna, 2014/15
photo: (c) ROBERT GRUBER

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City, 2014
wood, steel, PE water pipe, pump, Evian water, other materials
dimensions variable

exhibition view MANDLA REUTER, Armilla, Galerie Mezzanin Vienna, 2014/15
photo: (c) ROBERT GRUBER

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exhibition view MANDLA REUTER, Armilla, Galerie Mezzanin Vienna, 2014/15
photo: (c) ROBERT GRUBER

all images courtesy of the artist and Galerie Mezzanin, Vienna/Geneva

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At the end of the year 2014, Berlin-based artist MANDLA REUTER presented his third solo exhibition at Galerie Mezzanin in Vienna. The presentation was entitled Armilla, a word that is leading my wikipedia trail to two main direction: a town in the south of Spain or an armband awarded as a military decoration. But may be none of these tracks is correct.

In an interview with KARIN REBBERT in 2007, REUTER explained: I would rarely describe my work as situation-specific, site-specific or context-related. The works are conceived in such a way that they can function independently of the site, and usually independently of the context as well. It is the contexts that change artworks, no matter what they are like. My work is not institution-critical either, at least that’s not how I see it. Perhaps one could have spoken of institutional critique if the works had been produced in the 1970s or 80s, but today such concepts often do not go far enough and tend to pigeonhole artistic works, thus making it almost impossible to read and deal with them in a farther-reaching, sensible way. In most cases I find these currently widespread artistic positions that present their political, ecological or institutional grounds in advance extremely difficult. I don’t want to be misunderstood here; of course it’s fine if an artwork functions as a political statement or can be very political in itself, but not as a priority and as the sole starting point of a work. Maybe that also has to do with trends in art criticism, but certain developments can be found there as well.

In general I try to avoid these labels, even if it doesn’t always seem to work, as one can see. When I speak about works that create situations, I mean the circumstances and the possibilities of perception that are produced by an artistic intervention and that lead away from their actual materiality, allowing a number of interpretations. Basically that’s what happens with every picture hanging in a room. And of course I would like my works to be seen foremost as pictures; I’m an artist and artists create pictures. All one can say about the concept of installation is that any picture hanging on a wall becomes an installation, perhaps the respective artists have different priorities, but in the end what largely contributes to the reception of a work is how it hangs in the room and what it does to the room.

The minimal and conceptual press release for this exhibition has been entirely published below:

Mandla Reuter—Armilla—19.11–10.01.2015—Galerie Mezzanin, Wien—2014—third show—last exhibition—first space—room of maps—Vatican city—blueprint—inkjet—survey—map—architect—land registry—white spots—the undiscovered—clockwise from left—Untitled, 2014—181,5 cm x 128 cm x 6 cm—Google Earth—jungle—seafaring—space—Untitled, 2014—126 cm x 170 cm x 6 cm—satellites—Untitled, 2014—128 cm x 159 cm x 6 cm—invention—regression—Burj Khalifa—desert—Kolumbus—India—Iquitos—rubber—ice—67P/Tschurjumow-Gerassimenko—water—Untitled, 2014—120 cm x 138 cm x 6 cm—hallway—left to right—envelopes—glass cases—No Such St, 2013—Insuff Add, 2013—mapped—No Such St, 2013—Returned to Sender, 2013—US Postal Service—Fedex—UPS—Returned to Sender, 2013—returned to sender—no such street—localization—undeliverable as addressed—land without address—Los Angeles—2010—downtown—fake estate—GMC—second space—Out, 2014—in—drain—man hole cover—three parts—canalization—The Third Man—Warhol—WC—Vienna—city—shit—piss—water—sewage—wastewater—land—underground—rats—crocodile—escape—breaking and entering—Night, 2014—sodium-vapor lamp—dimensions variable—night—day—on—off—beauty of the night—street lighting—street—shoes—Double, 2013—body double—actor—Seyneb Saleh—Graz—2013—suit—sex—shirt—pair of shoes—park—view—custom-made—front entrance—wardrobe—cave—Francis Reuter—son—kid—four—painting—house—Untitled (2012)—model—cardboard packaging— structure paint—1:1—detail—sketch—The Gate—airline blankets—playground—cave—hide and seek—house—private part—third space—storage—first space—hallway—second space—third space—storage—City, 2014—Évian-les-Bains—city—Evian—water—water pipe—package of water—spring—ubiquitous spring—palettes—1.000 liters—pump—fountain—water grid—city—settlement—office—Untitled Plot (2014)—framed pigment print—142,5 cm x 122,5 cm—envelope—acrylic glass—glass—37,5 cm x 31 cm x 9 cm—dirt—other materials—carpet—Kunsthalle Basel—2013—first version—dirt—sand—steel plates—Waldon Place—Los Angeles—A Plot—SBKM De Vleeshal—dirt trodden into carpet—dimensions variable—one work—three works—dispute—overall dimensions variable.

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