Work group II · 14 works
Pop Culture and Urban Present
Image icons, everyday signs and the city as a mirror of the present
In this group of works, the visual culture of the present becomes material. Rike Wölke does not take over familiar motifs unchanged but sets them in new relationships: the antique bust in “Night Fever” and “Selfie,” the Pink Panther in “Wer hat an der Uhr gedreht,” Scrooge McDuck and the sprayed heart in “Nur die Liebe zählt.” Meaning always arises from the meeting of different times and visual codes.
Lettering, cartoon figures, smartphone, disco ball and urban landmarks function as cultural signs. Humor and nostalgia open the way in, while expressive color, spray traces and glossy surfaces raise questions about self-staging, sense of time, values and public image culture.
Curatorial Perspective
I
Description
Ancient busts with a smartphone and a disco ball, the Pink Panther, Scrooge McDuck, a sprayed heart, Berlin’s TV Tower and the Paradise Portal of Magdeburg Cathedral. Wölke combines these signs with drips, stencils, lettering and glossy surfaces.
II
Idea
The group uses today’s image culture as material. Familiar motifs are recombined until the encounter of different times and codes raises a question: about self-presentation, the sense of time, values and what a city remembers.
III
Context
The works take up strategies of Pop Art and street art: recognizability, quotation, stencil and spray paint. Wölke translates them into a painterly, emotional language in which humor and nostalgia open the door.
IV
What sets it apart
With twelve works, this is the most varied group, from the 200 × 100 cm “Fernsehturm Berlin” to compact 50 × 50 cm formats. “Urbane Begegnung” and “Urbane Küsse” are originals in a passe-partout and are also available as art prints.
V
For collectors & spaces
For collectors, these works are the most communicative side of Wölke’s position: visually immediate, rich in references and highly recognizable. The familiar visual signs offer direct access, while their rearrangement opens conversations about identity, the spirit of the times and cultural memory.