Gudrun von Maltzan's Metamorphic Universe at CEAAC Strasbourg

The exhibition of Gudrun von Maltzan at CEAAC in Strasbourg, France, from April 7 to June 10, 2001, presents her multifaceted work spanning drawing, photography, and stage design. Von Maltzan's practice is rooted in a principle of metamorphosis, where humans become serpents, satyrs turn into nuns, and angels morph into beasts, all rendered with a jubilant and caustic energy. Her drawings, displayed unframed under glass in childlike arrangements, deliberately ignore conventional hanging rules, featuring uncertain, hesitant lines that blend memories of her former East Germany with current observations. Subjects include falling skulls, decapitated women devoured by swans, dragons invading houses, and military planes crashing near swimming girls. In contrast, her "photographic engravings" demonstrate technical mastery: she scratches or paints on 24-36mm color slides before developing them into large-format prints (2-3 meters), achieving spectacular effects that challenge scale. For fifteen years, she has also designed sets for composer Georges Aperghis and costumes for theater productions by Ibsen, Michel Deutsch, and Moravia, which influence her exploration of image status. An artist book containing texts and drawings was published for the occasion. Critic Claude Rossignol notes that von Maltzan cultivates a "personal awkwardness" as a path to authenticity, weaving the prosaic with the marvelous while reinforcing rather than escaping reality.