Vanessa German/MATRIX 174 i come to do a violence to the lie

June 9, 2016–September 4, 2016 - For the exhibition, German will transform the gallery into an underground site of a cavern excavation. Minimally illuminated by several strings of bare light bulbs, a powerful army of approximately 30 of the artist’s black figurative sculptures will be installed in military formation on an earthen floor. The presentation was inspired by one of the most remarkable archeological discoveries of our times―the massive configuration of an estimated 7,000 terra cotta warriors and horses buried near the 2,000-year-old tomb of Chinese Emperor Qin Shi Huangdi (died 210 B.C.) in northwest China in 1974. Like the self-proclaimed first Emperor of Qin, German’s female soldiers display remarkable individuality and perform specific protective and supportive roles within the community (or dynasty) through the rites of passage from birth, to death, and rebirth.