Olaf Nicolai. Yeux de Paon

Olaf Nicolai’s work series Yeux de Paon is an artistic exploration of modernization processes. The so-called peacock eyes serve as the starting motif, a pattern that originates from traditional Bulgarian pottery. With the burgeoning tourism industry in Bulgaria in the 1970s, this folkloric motif was used in the mass production of ceramic items. The anachronistic forms do not so much contrast with modernization processes, but rather are a direct result of them. Nicolai realized the work in seven large silk curtains, which were displayed in the Art Collections Chemnitz. Alongside the exhibition, an artist’s book was created, outlining the history of Chemnitz/Karl-Marx-City in the 20th century through lists. The elaborately produced publication, with a three-color screen-printed cover and multiple folded pages, tells the complex interplay of economics, politics, and culture, which, in its entirety, is perceived as modernization.