Image courtesy of Rebecca Horn workshop © Rebecca Horn/Bild-Kunst.
Pelaires Gallery sadly mourns the passing of Rebecca Horn, one of the most influential and beloved artists of our time. Her departure leaves an irreplaceable void in the contemporary art world, where her multidisciplinary work has left a profound mark.
Rebecca Horn was a pioneer in the exploration of the body, space and transformation through her art, addressing with exceptional originality the interplay between the physical and the metaphysical world. Her practice encompassed kinetic sculptures, installations and performances that constantly challenged the limits of perception and movement. Her ability to fuse the mechanical with the organic led to deeply emotional and revelatory experiences for the viewer. Concurrent with her installations and performances, Horn maintained a rich drawing practice throughout her career, producing drawings that were often coextensive of her work in other media and that were sized according to the proportions of her body. Although Horn's marks were limited by the reach of her arm, she managed to create pieces full of energy and innovation within formal constraint.
Rebecca Horn had a deep personal connection with Mallorca, a place she made her second home and where she set up her studio. This bond was not only significant on a personal level, but had a great impact on the art scene on the island, and across Spain. Her presence at Galeria Pelaires was key to inspiring and invigorating local artists, as her influence—after all she was one of the most important female figures in contemporary art—transcended borders.
Rebecca Horn also contributed to collaboration initiatives and to the creation of new dynamics among artists. Her collaboration with Jannis Kounellis for the exhibition Aigüestortes held at Pelaires in 2009 was an example of this. Aigüestortes was not only the result of the synergy between two world-renowned artists, but also an expression of a friendship that they forged for more than 52 years. This project, which coincided with Pelaires' 40th anniversary, was the only joint collaboration between the two artists in Spain, a milestone in the history of the gallery and the Spanish art scene.
The documentary that was made about their encounter, directed by Pablo Bujosa Rodríguez and Pilar Rubí in 2011, captures not only the creative processes that the two artists shared, but also the way in which Horn and Kounellis understood the role of art in the social and cultural context.
In 2022, Galeria Pelaires also presented External Reflection, a solo exhibition dedicated to the work of Rebecca Horn. The monographic show brought together a set of 12 pieces, from the 1997 work Madame Bovary c'est moi - dit Monsieur Flaubert to the more recent piece Erinnerung an Donald (2020). This exhibition explored some of Rebecca Horn's main interests as a creator: memory, the body, mechanisation and spirituality, recurring themes throughout her vast and profound artistic career.
In addition to her relationship with Pelaires, Rebecca Horn carried out two major projects on the island. In 2003 she presented the installation Moon Mirror at Convent de Sant Domingo in Pollença. Through this work, the artist explored the antagonistic elements of water and fire, symbolised by a projection of the sun and a moving mirror reflecting its light, thus evoking an eclipse. Described as a Genesis story, the installation brought together the concepts of creation and destruction, leading to a dialogue between opposites and the cyclical nature of the universe.
In 2015 Rebecca Hornpresented Glowing Core at Sa Llotja, a project carried out with the support of Galeria Pelaires and dedicated to Ramon Llull to mark his 7th centenary. With a central sculpture and 16 lateral pieces, the installation invited to reflect on the place of human beings between heaven and earth. The main sculpture, a golden pendulum suspended over a rotating mirror, generated a feeling of ascent and fall, while the lateral human-sized pieces encouraged to question the nature of existence. This work was a visual metaphor for the fragility and transcendence of the human being, combining light, mirrors and electronic elements that interacted with the space of Sa Llotja and offered an immersive and deeply introspective experience.
In our gallery, Rebecca Horn was more than a close artist; she was a dear friend and an endless source of inspiration. Her work left a lasting impact on those who were fortunate enough to experience first-hand its transformative power, establishing a dialogue between human fragility and machinery, the tangible and the intangible.
Rebecca Horn (1944 - 2024)
Rebecca Horn, Finger gloves, 1972 (Courtesy of Rebecca Horn workshop © Rebecca Horn/Bild-Kunst)
Rebecca Horn, photogram of the performance Berlin, 1974 (Courtesy of Rebecca Horn workshop © Rebecca Horn/Bild-Kunst)
Images from the exhibition "Aigüestortes" by Rebecca Horn and Jannis Kounellis, 2009. First image: Der Blaue Seufzer, 2009; second image: Baño de gotas de rocio vistas a través de la bola de cristal, 2009; (Courtesy of Galería Pelaires)
Images from the opening of the exhibition "Aigüestortes" de Rebecca Horn y Jannis Kounellis en la Galería Pelaires, 2009. De izquierda a derecha: Frederic Pinya, Rebecca Horn, Jannis Kounellis y Pep Pinya. (Courtesy of Galería Pelaires)
Images from the exhibition "La reflexión exterior" by Rebecca Horn at Galería Pelaires, 2022.(Images by Lúa Oliver, courtesy of Galería Pelaires)
Images from "Moon mirror" Rebecca Horn' site-specific project in the Convent de Santo Domingo de Pollença, 2003.(Images by Gunter Lepkowski, © Rebecca Horn/Bild-Kuns)
Images from "Glowing core" Rebecca Horn' site-specific at Sa Llotja, Palma, 2015. Project organised by Galería Pelaires. (Images by Gunter Lepkowski, © Rebecca Horn/Bild-Kuns)
Vídeo de la exposición "La reflexión exterior" de Rebecca Horn en la Galería Pelaires, Palma, 2022.
