Red Fish Factory

Christoph Broich arrived at Loft Project ETAGI in St. Petersburg

The main entrance

Ligowski Prospekt

The building

The stairway - ETAGI = stairs

19 February thru 4 April 2010

Christoph Broich presents a selection of his work in one of the most exiting venues for contemporary art in St Petersburg today – Loft Project – ETAGI . Broich is best known as an artist for his impressive sculptural installations which take the form of casts or ‘skins’. Steering away from the much-hyped confluence of art and fashion in recent years, Broich’s artwork has received international attention for his ‘Lara’ series as well as his impressive “The Girl Who Sold Her Soul To The Devil And Won”

Before turning to contemporary art, Christoph was an internationally renowned fashion designer. He graduated from the Antwerp Academy of Fine Arts and has resided in Belgium’s cultural capital ever since. Christoph Broich has received international attention with sculptural installations that have come to stand for a willful sensitivity to the body and mortality. His work is a manifestation of the complex and unquiet correlation between life and work, material and concept.

In his Kopf (Head) series, the artist successfully expands his visual vocabulary by creating a cohesive environment around a single element, the head. Cut up iconic items of clothing and fabric are collaged onto busts and then painted with several coats of latex. Upon completion, as with all of Broich’s meticulously made sculptures, the bust is destroyed and the shell (skin) is all that remains.

Broich’s skinned sculptures focus on deterioration and present the reversal of the natural process: skin and flesh decomposing first and the skeleton remaining. Suspended from the ceiling, the heads create an eerie field of beheaded individuals.

Inspired by the Weimar bacchanalia, “Voluptuous Panic” invites the viewer to become part of the action. Understanding the importance of absence as well as presence in the deployment of his sculpted elements within a real space, Broich proves to be a master at orchestration and placement.

Spatially isolated through perspective techniques, curious manipulated, cast characters populate the weirdly decadent environment. The choice of mannequins, empty, non-threatening ‘everyone’ figures is deliberate, its effect one of alienation. All of the characters in Voluptuous Panic sustain a bland look. They stare into emptiness as they lean on enigmatic moments frozen in space and time, a singular, inexplicable silent moment.

The piece “The Girl Who Sold Her Soul To The Devil And Won” is dedicated to Amanda Lear and her album “Sweet Revenge”. Amanda Lear started her career as a model in the mid 1960s and was also the muse of Spanish surrealist painter Salvador Dalií. She first came to the public’s attention as the fetish clad model on the cover of Roxy Music’s album For Your Pleasure in 1973. She was a multimillion selling Disco Queen from the mid 70s to the early 80s. As from the mid 80s she positioned herself as one of the leading media personalities in mainland Europe, especially in Italy and in France. Since the 1990s her time has been divided between music, television, writing and movies as well as pursuing her career as a painter.

Loft Project ETAGI is a pioneer of loft-design in the city of St. Petersburg. Since 2007 ETAGI (which means “floors”) has been located in the very centre of the city in an industrial building of previous property of Smolninskiy bakery factory. The interior of the old factory was preserved in many elements, like concrete pillars with metal edges, a drilling machine and equipment for baking bread; and some designer features were added (the original factory floor of cast iron blocks with bright red joints and glass windows in it), as well as some luxury trimming, antique furniture and snazzy details.

BOOMBOOM is a PR and events company that specializes in PR and organization of cultural events. BOOMBOOM provides consulting on PR and marketing in Russia & CIS, artistic management and logistic support for its clients. BOOMBOOM delivers compact, designed projects that are stylish, efficient and targeted.

BOOMBOOM is based in Moscow, operates in Russia & CIS and has an extensive network of affiliated partners in Europe. BOOMBOOM is the result of a Belgian-Russian partnership that brings together a decade of experience in the fashion world in Russia with an impressive background in event organization and a network that extends to cultural, academic and business spheres. BOOMBOOM stands for positive energy and successful inter-cultural communication.

The Girl Who Sold Her Soul To The Devil And Won

Loft Project - ETAGI | Ligovsky per. 74
St. Petersburg - Russia | +7 812 334 98 36 | info@loftpro

Director | Sandra Vermuyten | sandra@boomboompr.com | +7 916 193 76 81
PR-manager | Elena Fatenkova | elena@boomboompr.com | +7 926 350 33 81

ART-CENTRE INDEPENDENT PLAZA | Bolshoy Drovyanoy per. 20, bld.2 | Moscow – Russia | +7 495 698 04 09 | info@boomboompr.com

www.christophbroich.com | ww.boowmboompr.com | www.loftprojectetagi.ru | www.envoyenterprises.com

CHRISTOPH BROICH . 19 February thru 4 April 2010

This is the artist's first solo exhibition in Saint-Petersburg in the Russian Federation

Loft Project . Ligovsky pr., 74 . Saint-Petersburg, 191 040 . every day 2-10pm . +7.812.458.5005

if you live in Belgium you should buy "Actief Wonen"
the Red Fish Factory Loft is published on 12 pages in this inspriring magazine.

pictures: Frederik Vercruysse
text: Anneleen Peters

• FILMDECOR & FABRIEKSPAND ruime loft in een ex-confectiebedrijf

!!!  only one unit still available !!!

Red Fish Factory is the name of the industrial bldg. of designers and artists team Christoph Broich and Thomas Engels. This former textile factory is situated in the up and coming area around Kerkstraat and close to the famous loftbuilding 'Martougin' with more than 40 loftapartments. In the middle of the site the roof of a store was removed and a central patio was created surrounded by three units used as office, showroom and designatelier. The beautiful patio is ideal for (smoking-)breaks, meetings and receptions, or to park bicycles safely and to load and unload easily. To the Antwerp central station it is a 10 minutes walk, you need 5 minutes by car to the motorway, there are several trolley and busstops around.

contact: office@redfishfactory.com