Yana Tsegay “bat wallpaper/ night vision”, 2024, 2,40 x 2,50 cm, Acryl auf Papier & “bat wallpaper/ hibernation”, 2024, 2,40 x 2,50 cm, Acryl auf Papier (v.r.n.l)

Yana Tsegay “rare in cultivation”, 2024, 30 x 24 cm, Lithografie auf Hahnemühlepapier, Edition von jeweils 5 in schwarz, violett & silberbeschichtet

Getting involved with a Space

They perceive through sound, utilize ultrasonic for orientation in low-light conditions and are the sole mammals capable of flight. Due to their cellular mechanisms that retard the aging process, they attain longevity. In addition to these superpowers, the bat exhibits another distinctive trait: its capacity to utilize a vast array of diverse habitats as roosts and hunting grounds. They are capable of inhabiting a variety of environments, including caves, tree hollows and buildings.

No species of bat is known to remain exclusively in a single habitat. The capacity to deal with a space, to immerse oneself in it, to get involved with it and to imbue it with a sense of the extraordinary without adopting a naïve familiarity with it is an integral aspect of Yana Tsegay's artistic practice. In conjunction with this aptitude and the readiness to permit emotional and affective currents to flow into her expansive 'murals', exhibition spaces are always transformed into a novel habitat, perpetually saturated with the inquiries that consistently fuel the artist's creative process: What cultural elements should be preserved, and what aspects of diversity remain in the present era? In what manner do biographical narratives and personal identities relate to objects, and how can images be created that effectively illustrate these relationships? In Bat Biotope, large-scale wallpapers that appear to have been burned at the edges give the impression of a stalactite cave. In reality, however, these are much darker, so the question arises as to who is illuminating them? Do we see them from the bats' point of view or is it us humans with our highly sophisticated prostheses? Night vision devices, torches, we too have developed our abilities to survive in different habitats.

The color yellow is a recurring element in Tsegay's practice, both as a symbol of light and warmth, and as an emblem for disease and danger. The spaces in which art appears are equally ambivalent. Places that satisfy the desire to be present as an artist. But also places that expose them, especially in times of political polarization. Fetishizing and otherness are clearly being played with here, but who is fetishizing and othering whom remains unclear.

Is it us, the viewers, or is it the artist? It is the bias itself that YANA TSEGAY BAT BIOTOPE 13.12.24 – 31.01.25 TRESOR 35 has been invited to wreak havoc here. Due to the large amount of space taken up by the paintings, the overall ambience is characterized by a sense of warmth and comfort, which contrasts with the otherwise clinical and minimalist white cube aesthetic. Familiar forms and materials appear and vanish again in the service of a greater whole.

Biotopes are the smallest units of the biosphere. Spatially limited, they are always home to an adapted community of organisms. First and foremost, a biotope is the habitat of a community of different living creatures, in which diversity is a strength and where the space and its inhabitants are cared for. In addition to their intrinsic capabilities, bats engage with their surrounding environment, thereby facilitating the functioning of numerous other components of their ecosystem. Humans, too, possess this capacity.

by Mounira Zennia

Yana Tsegay “bat wallpaper/ painting for the mausoleum”(detail), 2024, 2,40 x 2,50 cm, Acryl auf Papier