Thomas Rentmeister

Thomas Rentmeister (*1964 in Reken, lives in Berlin) once ironically described his works as “minimal pop”. A combination of Minimal Art and Pop Art. With this he summarized the art historical references of his art, which oscillates between the production of polyester sculptures on the one hand and the use of everyday objects on the other. His polyester sculptures seem disconcertingly amorphous and yet organic at the same time. The objects and installations made of coffee cups, refrigerators, Penaten cream and Nutella seem more everyday. Nutella appears as brown heaps and evokes associations of dirt and cleanliness in the viewer. It is precisely through the synaesthetic quality of his work, smelling and imagined tasting, that the artist evokes collective memories and irritates the viewer in a humorous way.

The series of everyday objects also includes the bread roll. A bronze roll, which admittedly is denied its everyday purpose– its consumption would have painful consequences. Besides the title, it is precisely this harsh contrast between perception and experience that the artist is able to irritate us with. Thomas Rentmeister also seems to bring his different approaches together again: An object which, due to its material composition, looks like a classical sculpture, but remains recognizable as an everyday object. It can be understood as a sign of his “minimal pop”.

Thomas Rentmeister
B´Brötchen, 2005
bronze
12 x 8 x 5 cm
Edition: 12
produced for the Künstlerhaus Bremen
950 €

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