Birgit Megerle's figurative and abstract paintings are characterized by an artificial, rigid, and stage-like atmosphere. The female characters featured in her works are poised with a determination and a readiness to act, and while based in a tradition of representational painting, they are eerily unreal and remote. Despite their contemporary references, the works feel as though they have fallen out of time. Associations with performative events are amplified by Megerle's installations, in which the works are hung not only on the wall, but also laid on the floor or presented as mise en scène. Although the works contain figurative elements, comprehensible narratives do not unfold, with Megerle challenging social constraints and norms without proffering solutions. This exhibition catalogue accompanied Megerle's exhibition at Kunsthalle Lingen in the fall of 2010.
