CentralTrak will present Sudarium by Reinhold Engberding. A past CentralTrak resident, Engberding's installation is the continuation of a series of image "interviews" with the same title, which he started in 2006. Sudarium is the Latin expression for a special textile relic, one that has been used to wipe sweat, or in an intimate fashion.
These 144 drawings are painted with ink on used bed sheets. Each unique ink drawing was sourced from the Internet; including porn websites, news sources with reports about the revolutions in the Middle East and North Africa, as well as, semi-official U.S. law enforcement websites. The images utilized from these sources are mug shots of men, all viewed with the same question from the sonless Engberding: Is that my son?
A project of self-discovery, the artist's feelings transform these static web images into self-portrait transformations as Engberding contemplates the father-son-relationship. As the artist reflects, “bed sheet(s) take (on) tears, sweat and other body fluids and in this respect it’s predestined for this series of portraits." These images float on the walls looking down on the observer. Suddenly the observer becomes the observed.
Following the opening reception, the exhibit will be on display through April 4.