In a display of two works—a large-scale collage and 34 minute video projection titled “Disturbed Places”—Odenbach is able to mount layer upon layer of both media and meaning. In conjunction with Anton Kern Gallery, Kimmerich is proud to present works by Marcel Odenbach.

In preparation for the 2008 Olympics, Beijing prepared over 40 million potted flowers to decorate the streets and Olympic venues. Tiananmen Square was transformed into a massive nursery of maidenhair, chrysanthemum and petunias in advance of the opening ceremonies. Oldenbach’s “China Collage” is a depiction of workers arranging flowers into small foliage mountains within Tiananmen. The collage, dense with bright orange marigolds and bold red salvia, leaves few glimpses of either the square’s original uniform architecture or the light azure sky above.

Continuing in the tradition of splicing photography, printed press, film and video work that Odenbach began in the mid-70s, the collage consists of text and images culled from various mass-media sources, cut, dyed and reassembled. When examined closely these images within the image are apparent. Bold red colors are saturated with paintings by Lucian Freud while palm leaves and ferns bare the faces of Mao Zedong, Albert Einstein and John F. Kennedy. These subtle insertions transform the massive, bright, bold, and awe inspiring image into one that also stirs contemplation when considering its parts.

“Disturbed Places”, follows young protagonists through a slow wondering of Kolkata, India. The sequences are introduced as “somewhat like a diary, that has long ceased to be a document” and are followed with imagery that reflects upon an idealized India similar to the one that emerged in Western youth culture in the late 60s. The scenes blend into one another like landscapes outside of a window—perhaps a reference to the capacity for both personal and collective memories to meld together in confluence with observed realities. The final sequence references Werner Herzog’s “Fitzcarraldo” as a young protagonist writes from a typewriter on the tip of a river boat‘s bow. As the edge of the river passes like in a dream, our protagonist reflects upon reflection, and writes that memory has left us, not with a logical understanding, but stories and anecdotes.

Marcel Odenbach’s work has been presented in solo exhibitions at the Kunsthalle Bremen; the Schinkel Pavillon, Berlin (both 2008); SESC Videobrasil, São Paulo (2007); Hamburger Bahnhof, Berlin; Espacio Fundacion Telefonica, Buenos Aires (both 2006); Cornerhouse, Manchester (2005); Govett-Brewster Art Gallery, New Zealand (2004); Museum of Modern Art, Frankfurt; the Frankfurter Kunstverein (both 2002); IVAM, Valencia; the Reina Sofia, Madrid (both 1999); and the New Museum of Contemporary Art in New York (1998). His work has also been included in exhibitions at the Folkwang Museum, Museum Ludwig, Kunstmuseum Bonn (all 2010); LACMA, National Gallery of South Africa, MoMA, Kunsthalle Vienna, Stedelijk, CAC Vilnius (2009); Prospect.1 New Orleans (2008); Kemper Art Museum (2007); K21 Kunstsammlung Nordrhein-Westfalen (2006), Sharjah International Biennial 7 (2005); Istanbul Biennale (2003); MoMA (2000); and Documenta 8 (1987). His work is in the collections of numerous international institutions, including the Museum of Modern Art, New York, where it was recently featured in Compass in Hand: Selections from The Judith Rothchild Foundation Contemporary Drawings Collection.