Quer Geschnitten!Kunst Aus Krefeld Heute–Kaiser Wilhelm Museum
Opening: Friday 28 August, 7 p.m.
The Quer geschnitten! Kunst aus Krefeld heute (Cross-cut! Art from Krefeld Today) exhibition on the first floor of the Kaiser Wilhelm Museum features artists from Krefeld and the immediate vicinity, and shows a wide range of approaches. This richly varied selection includes works in the genres painting, sculpture, photography and video. The show includes old acquaintances on the Krefeld art scene such as Barbara Adamek, K.A. Janßen and Ludwig Wertenbruch, but also introduces younger artists who are not so well known, for example Catherine Birner, Ivo Lucas und Dirk Rose. The tour of the 17 galleries on the first floor is arranged so that links can be forged between the works, but deliberate breaks are created as well.
Many new works are being shown, some of which were even developed specifically for Quer geschnitten! One such is a film work by the Sputnic group of artists, who take a playful, provocative and ironic look at the way historical buildings like the Kaiser Wilhelm Museum are treated.
Approaches to painting are represented by artists including Brigitte Baldauf, Ilka Habrich and Hiltrud Lewe, whose work – in a very different way in each case – are concerned with the transparency of surfaces. Frank Jacob Essers’s paintings, in which strangely refracted fairy-tale scenes unfold against backgrounds with a silvery shimmer, appeal through their narrative character.
Justyna Tuha’s installations made up of Euro Palettes and monotypes cannot be assigned to any particular genre, as its specific effect is created by the interplay of the large-format prints and the way in which they are hung. It is only in the three-dimensional structure that the work develops its associative and narrative force.
Klaus Kubik’s sculptures emerge from questioning the dichotomy between nature and technology. The surreal-looking objects, some of them kinetic, provide a complex contrast with the large works based on straight lines by Catherine Birner in the adjacent gallery. Sculptress Valerie Krause addresses sculptural dimension and potential elements of movement; she has recently won the Audi Art Award for New Talents.
Ivo Lucas’s work presents another young approach that has caused quite a stir. His showcases, featuring model-making and toy figures, are directed at human cruelty and fear of self-destruction.
The photographer and cross-media artist Manuel Schroeder shows a wide-ranging selection of his oeuvre including the work i was here, a setup of tabletops from various sources, photographic works and a monitor installation. Other facets of photography as a medium are explored in works by Philip Lethen and Dirk Rose. Lethen’s portrait of an unoccupied 1870s century villa is essentially documentary in character. Rose’s Vice (1998-2004/2009) series is clearly more conceptual: he has had himself photographed in the setting of other photographers as a so-called light double, as a placeholder, thus demonstrating to viewers that individuals are interchangeable in the context of this medium.
Matthias Schamp, an author and performance artist who works in many fields is showing videos and items left over from his actions: for example “The Schamp” – as he calls himself – appeared in Bochum as a larger-than-life no entry sign, in Wolhusen (Switzerland) as a sun blind and lastly in Linz as a steamer funnel.
The extensive programme accompanying the exhibition includes conversations with artists, regular guided tours and programmes for children and young people in specific age groups, and also an extended programme of guided tours on KIK Sunday (Kunst in Krefeld: Art in Krefeld). There is a celebration in the Kaiser Wilhelm Museum on 3 October 2009: Nils Voges and Malte Jehmlich of Sputnic are presenting the artists’ party evening with a wide variety of DJing and VJing.
Interviews with artists in German in the Kaiser Wilhelm Museum:
04.09. K.A. Janßen, Valerie Krause, Klaus Kubik
25.09. Brigitte Baldauf, Frank Jakob Esser, Ludwig Wertenbruch
03.10. Ivo Lukas, Sputnic
06.11. Ilka Habrich, Philip Lethen, Manuel Schroeder
20.11. Dirk Rose, Matthias Schamp, Justyna Tuha
04.12. Barbara Adamek, Catherine Birner, Hiltrud Lewe
A lavishly illustrated catalogue with an essay by Thomas Janzen, published by the Arthellweg Verlag and initiated by the artists, will accompany the exhibition. The catalogue is supported by Manfred Lischka and the Cargill company, and will be on sale in the museum shop at the price of € 14.80.
Participating artists: Adamek, Brigitte Baldauf, Catherine Birner, Frank Jacob Esser, Ilka Habrich, K.A. Janßen, Valerie Krause, Klaus Kubik, Philip Lethen, Hiltrud Lewe, Ivo Lucas, Dirk Rose, Matthias Schamp, Manuel Schroeder, Sputnic: Malte Jehmlich, Nicolai Skopalik und Nils Voges, Justyna Tuha, Ludwig Wertenbruch