The Hypnotic Spell

‘The hypnotic spell which was weighed on your cerebro-spinal system for two lustra is broken. She awakens as ordered and sees two celestial forms disappearing into the sky, holding hands. She does not attempt to go back to sleep. Slowly, moving one limb after the other, she gets out of bed. She goes over to this gothic fireplace, to warm her body by the embers of the fire. She is wearing only a shirt. She looks around for the crystal carafe, that she may moisten her dry palate. She opens the shutters of the window. She leans on the window- sill. She contemplates the moon which sheds on her breast a cone of ecstatic rays which flutter like moths with silver beams of ineffable softness. She waits for morning with its change of scenery to bring its derisory relief to his shattered heart.’ (after Lautréamont, The Songs of Maldoror) For this solo exhibition Marianne Vlaschits created a world of beings, who are deeply sunk into a play with celestial bodies. The viewer is invited to enter a feminist heaven, an atmosphere of limbo and airiness.The paintings’ assembly, in situ works, is laid out as a roundelay, in which the women, not always recognisable in their sex seem to float and surround an invisible fire. They are in a state tranquility and contemplation, free and self-sufficient, solitary but not lonely. The artist gives us a glimpse into the figures’ existence, mysterious and usually hidden. A closer look at the titles reveals and describes their sufferings such as ‘The weight of pain’, desires ‘The end of Patriarchy', and doings ’Milking Dark Matter’, ‘Autogamy at Night’. Typical for Marianne Vlaschits’ work, which includes large scale installation, is creating environments and imaginaries, referencing feminist science fiction/fantasy sceneries and narratives. Marianne Vlaschits lives and works in Vienna. She received several awards and grants in the past years, such as the Federal Goverment Austria Scholarship and the Emanuel and Sofie Fohn Grant. Recent solo and group exhibitions include Der Hase war Schuld, Galerie Sophia Vonier Salzburg 2019, A New Home, Nathalie Halgand Galerie Vienna, 2018; Cake Ceremony, KW Center for Contemporary Art Berlin, 2017, A Construction Site of Extraordinary Feelings, The Breeder Gallery, Athen 2020, Stone Telling, Kunstraum NÖ, 2019 Vienna, Queer Encounters, CalArts, 2017 Los Angeles