Michèle Pagel

Don't Get Me Wrong 

13.12.2019- 06.02.2020

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Suzie Shride presents Michèle Pagel’s solo exhibition ‘Don’t get me wrong’, sculpture views, 2020, Vienna.

Pagel transforms the exhibition space into a direct speech scenario. Upon entering the visitor is welcomed by bold calls reminding 80ies german punk titles. A performative framing is acted out via expressions which interlink reactions and symbols, such as the parrot, ‘the smooth operator’, a repeater and commander. Anticapitalist critique addressing bureaucratic failure and unresolved desires are uttered whilst the title of the solo show ‘Don’t get me wrong’ speaks out an excuse a precaution in order not to be misunderstood when being frank. Pagel’s sculptures, sometimes protagonists of a wider narrative, step into direct communication with the viewer and amongst each other.The performance of the mostly chosen medium- bricks- reflects upon the clunky harshness of everyday’s realities though still the sculptures remain playful and sensitive to detail.Pagel’s work mirrors an irony within the dis-order of conformity, non volatile and here to state and stay.

 

Michèle Pagel (b. 1985, Werdau, Germany, lives in Vienna) holds a Diploma in Sculpture, Academy of Fine Arts Vienna under Pawel Althamer and Julian Göthe. Recent exhibitions and collections include 2019 ‘Polly’s Cracker’ Austrian Culture Forum, Moskau; 2018 ‘Homegrown Freaks’, Startgalerie MUSA, Wien; State Collection of Modern Art Belvedere.

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Photographs courtesy the artist