Kata Tranker’s first solo exhibition can be seen in the ground floor of Longtermhandstand. Through the artist’s latest sculptures and hand-carved reliefs, we are presented with a timeless female figure whose story is in dialogue not only with the past, but also with the physical and mental states of the present.
The central sculpture in the exhibition is inspired by the myth of the Egyptian Book of the Heavenly Cow. According to the story, the people rebelled against the rule of Ra, the sun god, who therefore decided to destroy them. In the fullness of his power, he unleashes the goddess of vengeance, Hathor, who wreaks bloody havoc on the earth. When Ra finally regrets his actions, he appeases Hathor with wine and magic, and then retreats into the sky. However, the only way to restore order to the world is for the goddess Nut, in the form of a cow, to raise the sky above the earth, thus separating the divine and human worlds.
This world-creation moment becomes the focus of the exhibition in the sculpture by Kata Tranker. The wall reliefs unfold another story thread: the journey of a foremother who, through her own body and transformations, becomes the bearer of the beginning of the world. These sculptures form the physical layers of femininity, creation and memory with gestures that are both lyrical and raw.