Leni Michl. COMEBACK

31.07.2020 - 08.09.2020

Helmuts Art Club, Wien / Österreich

After a hiatus of 5 years Leni Michl is back. 5 years of building and dismantling dreams of family, love and friendships, short trips down memory lane, soul-searching, lost and future loves. This new body of work comprises objects and images revolving around love, candid and undisguised. Something steady after all, this eternal love affair with the art-world. Welcome back Leni!



1. VON, 2020

A masterfully disguised misfit that wants to be part of an aristocratic circle, part of a society, a certain class, a conventional family set up.... Can she be accepted or does she need to play an act? A shrine for a preppy shirt, a reminder of a lesson of self discovery, a classic embroidered chiffre reading the letters: from A to Z. Been there, done that, chapter closed.



2. close but not there yet

(Darling forever), 2020

The key to happiness, the key to success.. you name it. A blank key, so near and connected but not quite there yet, no doors have opened yet, so s that already a broken promise? In search of the one love, does she need a very specific cut or rather a passe-partout? Is it about finding the right hyper detailed grinding or rather accept the blank and uncut?



3. EVERYBODIES DARLING, 2020

Set up as a classic charm bracelet, a signifier for a collecting habit, made of uncut keys, and chain-links. Begging for a new charm, a lucky charm, a protective charm, a new love, attention, attraction, with a tiny bit of superstition. What we see is a collection set of emotions, of moments - collecting darlings, collecting heartthrob. But when is it complete, when is it enough?



4. INNER BEAUTY, 2020

The triptych Inner beauty is questioning the deeper sense of beauty and superficiality, looking to deconstruct its deeper meaning, to find out what we can agree on: What is the canon of beauty?
Is it not much simpler than we would like to admit, is not everybody just happy with pure and plain beauty, looking good?

Wrapped and concealed, barely visible, that there are real flowers inside. So what it really is all about, is the beauty of things you might not see. It is not a broken promise after all, but pointing at the transience that is clearly inscribed into cut flowers, the flower of life.


[Quelle: Einladung]