Prediction and forecast oppose two ways of accessing truth and knowledge: while forecasting relies on historical data and statistical models to make predictions about future trends, prediction relies on incomplete or uncertain information to make judgments about future events. The opposition between
faith and science, a subject that seems ancient but very present in our post-truth society, takes shape in the context of the Saint Croix Church, for which the series was created, along with Reinhold’s biography, born in predominantly atheist East Germany.

A large abstract diptych is inspired by an old wind map, a document both scientific and visionary. It is made of layers of marble, graphite and tar on a carved jute surface, resulting in a geometric relief with ups and lows, lines and angles. The varying widths create an (unintended) optical effect created by the nature of the ground beneath them, further playing with the mystical element of a visual illusion. A memento mori titled What is the use of hating? operates on an intimate, existential level while addressing the instrumentalization of emotions in today’s populist ideologies.

A lightly painted landscape of enchanted waves and clouds allude to the natural rhythm of day and night, recalling the ups and lows of the textured surface, as well as the coming and going of different iconologies, from mythology to folklore to Jugendstil. Uncertainty and chance are also present in the portrait of a man depicted in blue and green tones, crossed by a sliding grid of numbers dissimilating the figure. The man’s gaze is pointed up beyond the numbers, as if in the process of infinite counting, alluding to the endless chase in risk evaluation and predictions.

Reinhold approaches color as a way to access a particular atmosphere, removed from the loud image culture we are immersed in. The luminosity created in the vivid depths of her paintings is a means to create a distinct space for the viewer’s experience. It is a space that does not suggest any particular truth, but the mere opportunity of creating our own judgment, or at least asking ourselves if that is even possible.

Sophie Reinhold (b. 1981) lives and works in Berlin. She studied at the Academy of Fine Arts, Leipzig; Weißensee Academy of Art, Berlin; and the Academy of Fine Arts, Vienna. Some of her recent solo exhibitions include »TRÄUM WEITER« at Galerie Nordenhake, Berlin, in 2023; APORIA, Fitzpatrick Gallery, Paris, in 2022; Menace at Sophie Tappeiner, Vienna, in 2021; Y at galerie philippzollinger, Zürich; Das kann das Leben kosten at CFA, Berlin, in 2020; the ballad of the lost hops, SUNDOGS, Paris, Kein Witz, No Joke at Kunstverein Reutlingen in 2019; and DEAR HANNES at Schiefe Zähne, Berlin, in 2018. Her work has been presented in group shows organized by, among others, Kunsthaus Graz; Andrew Kreps Gallery, New York; Efremidis Gallery, Berlin; Sprüth Magers, Los Angeles; Galerie Rüdiger Schöttle, Munich; and Freedman Fitzpatrick, Los Angeles.