About the Work
The materiality of the knitted work 'Who will be in in '99?' points to a domestic sphere with female connotations. It can be read as a feminist comment on the male dominance of art history. The format and the precise stitching suggest it was produced industrial with a computer-controlled knitting machine. Here, Rosemarie Trockel takes up a praxis that is independent of the artisanal involvement of the artist. The reproducibility of her pictures contrasts with the concept of knitting as a craft. The title refers to the lists of artist rankings which emerged during the 1980s. While these asked who would be the art star of the future, the cruciform shape quotes Kasimir Malevich's Suprematist paintings, with it, a central work of Modernism. The execution of the appropriated painting in wool destroys its essential characteristics and the self-referentiality of modern painting. Trockel's work creates a tension-filled network of handicraft and machine, art history and pop culture, past and future.
