Trisha Donnelly's Mystical Installations at Cologne and Zurich

Trisha Donnelly (born 1974, lives in San Francisco) presented two simultaneous solo exhibitions in summer 2005 at Kölnischer Kunstverein in Cologne and Kunsthalle in Zurich. The exhibitions featured a range of media including drawing, photography, video, sound installation, and performance, characterized by an enigmatic, hermetic quality that evokes historical, cultural, religious, and symbolic references. A central work, "The Redwood and the Raven" (2004), comprised 31 black-and-white photographs of an elderly woman in black performing gestures at the base of a sequoia; each day a different image was shown, creating a temporal sequence. At Cologne, a natural light source from a small opening in a wall illuminated a pencil drawing with cabalistic signs ("hedm!", 2005), creating a hallucinatory effect. The exhibition space was divided into two identical rooms: one brightly lit with multiple works, the other nearly empty with a single drawing lit only by a skylight. A narrow passage led to a photograph of a spectral apparition ("The D from W", 2005). Two sound installations added a metaphysical dimension: an organ concert ("Untitled", 2005) marked the opening and closing of the Kunstverein daily, while a lamenting voice from beyond the grave ("Oh Egypt", 2004) emerged unpredictably. Donnelly's exhibition at Kölnischer Kunstverein followed her receipt of the CENTRAL Assurance 2005 art prize.