William Earl Kofmehl III

Anna Kanai Proudly Presents William Earl Kofmehl III

February 22 - April 5 2009

On invitation by Anna Kanai, American artist William Earl Kofmehl III opens his show with a performance, starring himself as William the Androgynous of the Alpine Forest, his father as Colonel Kofmehl and his friend as Samboloni Sigg. Sigg encounters the novice Swiss skier William suspended upside down and partially embedded in the dangerous terrain below his alpine shack. While coming to his aid, he discovers a mysterious vessel on the skier's person; he abandons the rescue mission but steals the vessel and its contents. William undergoes many months of hospitalization for hypothermia and amnesia; also the post-traumatic amnesia causes him to engage in an unconscious, expressive feminine personality. Colonel Kofmehl, a third generation expatriate Swiss citizen and retired U.S. Army Lieutenant Colonel, is the principal orator, delivering Samboloni's fortuitous find of fragmentary peppermint candy bits within the vessel and the final fight between Samboloni and William.
A video loop of Colonel Kofmehl's discussion of both global strategies and application to tactics in the Swiss sphere of operations will be presented, accompanied by illustrative embroideries and bronze sculptures which amplify his solution to the challenge. The props of the performance will remain as a monumental installation.

Oliver Kielmayer