Grimmuseum presents
In cooperation with: Grimmuseum, Berlin; Cercle Cité, Luxembourg; kann es liebe sein? Künstlerhaus k/haus and Sammlung Lenikus, Vienna. Maria Anwander, JULIUS DEUTSCHBAUER, Katharina Lackner, Christoph Meier, Max Mertens With the kind support of: Suzan Noesen, Christodoulos Panayiotou Bundesministerium für Unterricht Kunst und Kultur Armand Quetsch, Letizia Romanini der Republik Österreich; Ministère de la Culture du Grand-Duché de Luxembourg; Fondation Indépen- Kay Walkowiak, Ming Wong dance; Ville de Luxembourg; Österreichisches curated by Nora Mayr, Gilles Neiens Kulturforum Berlin; Botschaft des Großherzogtums Luxemburg in Deutschland; Ministère des affaires etrangères du Grand-Duché de Luxembourg; 09.09.—30.09. 2012 Österreichische Botschaft Luxemburg.
Curator’s tour: opening: 08.09.2012 at 7pm 16.09. 2012 and 30.09.2012, 4pm, admission free
Wed.-Sun. 14-19 h. Fichtestrasse 2, 10967 Berlin www.grimmuseum.com [email protected]
‚Love’ is at least as old as humanity itself, bition became evident in two ways. Firstly, The exhibition aims to shift our awareness bearing both connotations of complexity and love is increasingly perceived as a surface on from the intellectual aspects to the emotion- triviality, it conjures up notions of heart- which humans project their understanding of al ones enabling and encouraging a dialogue breaking romance as well as clichés. It happiness. Sven Hillenkamp writes: “There about an elementary realm that moves us was in the ‘80s when the, then young singer is a historically unprecedented amount of as individuals. Despite the term ‘love’ being Falco, along with the actress Desirée Nos- hopes and expectations involving love […] readily associated with naive, embarrassing, busch asked the question “Kann es Liebe The era of romantic love does not lie in the and at times, even banal personal moments, sein?” (Can it be love?) in their schmaltzy past, rather, measured by its conditions, has we want to re-establish a realm in the vein duet of the same title. Thirty years on, this reached its zenith.” If then, our successes of Roland Barthes’ “small space for love’s wonderfully tender song provides us with the in love are the premises for our well-being, affirmation.” backbone of this exhibition examining love. the questions concerning who and how we (Nora Mayr and Gilles Neiens) Love between people, places and countries, love seem of utmost importance. Secondly, and love towards objects. this exhibition is guided by the notion of how ◆ art touches us and what importance affec- In her work My Most Favourite Art (2004 - The ideals, fantasies, and definitions of tion has on our perception of art. Both Lewis ongoing) Maria Anwander steals the labels love are reflections of our social values and Biggs’ theories that art could not have any denoting works’ titles from her most dear norms that arise as religious, social, and intellectual strengths without emotional museums, project spaces, galleries and bien- cultural inflections and influences. The dic- ones, and that within the art-world true feel- nales, presenting her label collection as her tionary alone provides four definitions and ings often become tabooed, have strength- own work. Anwander exposes her personal fifteen synonyms; undoubtedly there are ened our choice to work with this topic. heroes of the art-world and invites the public countless more examples. Where Christian- to examine their own preferences and loves ity offers the idea of sacrificial love that can Kann es Liebe sein? uses its selected works of various works. In her performance piece bear all hopes, wishes and desires- modern to help navigate through love’s rich land- The Kiss (2007/2010) Anwander questions the philosophical or sociological perspectives scapes and meanings, unraveling which power structures that rule the art-world, by view love as an abstract structural phenom- yearnings and desires are met by disap- performing a passionate kiss on a wall at the enon. Perhaps it is clearer to understand pointments and heart-break. In keeping with Museum of Modern Art, New York (MoMA) just how complex endeavors in love are when Falco and Desirée Nosbusch’s question, this and placing a label alongside her kiss. we consider how late historically this emo- exhibition will travel from Berlin to Luxem- The Kiss was therefore given to the MoMA as tion was embraced in the field of psychology, bourg city and finally to Vienna, and empha- a donation without a request for permission. simply because it was deemed too impen- sis has been deliberately placed on artists’ Maria Anwander, born 1980 in Bregenz/Aus- etrable as a subject for analysis. positions who either live or work in Austria tria, lives and works in Berlin. In this exhibition, love is explored in its and Luxembourg. This way, the works form www.maria-anwander.net most elementary definition, as one of the a narrative arc ranging from kitsch-inspired strongest manifestations and sentiments of installations, to abstract interpretative ◆ affection and devotion, whether exchanged works and personal explorations in love. Katharina Lackner’s installation Very bright by humans, or felt towards an object, or to- Related areas such as sexuality, intimacy inside (2010) employs bed-side lamps and wards an idea. and passion are also part of Kann es Liebe other domestic lighting fixtures to illu- sein?’s scrutiny. Additionally, affection and minate images of affection. This series of To us as curators the reasons as to why love love are explored as underestimated facets work illustrates love by bringing the objects is interesting within the context of an exhi- of the process of viewing art itself. themselves to life through the simple trick of imbuing them with human characteristics images of the pop industry, which shows little By concentrating on the love-sick fashion or actions. Lackner offers a slightly more interest in authentic interpersonal emotions. designer’s gestures, especially using her distanced approach towards love in her video However, despite this, the mixture of image monologue, Wong provides a new context for work I am able to express myself in unique and sounds create an aesthetic undertow that her utterances of despair and grief. With this ways (2009) by analysing the phenomenon of seduces the viewer. work the artist rehearses going through the online-dating sites. In a close-up, the artist Christodoulos Panayiotou, born 1978 in Li- motions and emotions and articulating the offers viewers her answers to a question- massol/ Cyprus, lives and works in Limassol words for situations that he believes he may naire provided by an online-dating agency, and Paris. encounter when he moves to Berlin as a post- without providing the viewers with the ques- www.christodoulospanayiotou.com 35-year-old, single, gay, ethnic-minority mid- tions needed in order to decode the personal career artist - i.e. feeling bitter, desperate, or information given by the artist. ◆ washed up. Wong reminds us of the powers Katharina Lackner, born 1981 in Austria, lives For Kann es Liebe sein? the artist Armand behind the destructive interplay between love and works in Linz/Austria. Quetsch arranges a selection of personal and hate, a sacrificial and injurious love. www.kathilackner.net photographs, creating the most personal Ming Wong, born 1971 in Singapore, lives and statement on love within the exhibition. His works in Berlin and Singapore. ◆ works allow an emotive insight into his pri- www.mingwong.org Christoph Meier’s work converges arbitrary vate collection of various forms in which love objects, material waste and forms with can be felt and expressed. Quetsch’s defini- Minimalist sculptures, slick assemblages tion of love describes the feeling of devotion and installations. In using materials that as a primary force of motivation involved in are strongly marked by their own history, our decision-making processes and life. PROGRAM whether as presents, lucky finds, or by their Armand Quetsch, born 1980 in Luxembourg, previous functions, Meier’s objects echo lives and works in Luxembourg. The Opening Talk inter-personal connections. In his untitled Performance by Suzan Noesen work ohne Titel (Love) (2012) Meier unites ◆ Saturday, 08.09.2012, 8 PM, Free entry two formally opposing objects into a new In her meticulously folded paper works creat- functioning ‘couple’. As a metaphor for love, ed for the installation Mat der Nues beilaafen Suzan Noesen’s performance The Opening these abstract objects seem to explore im- I Auf die Nase fallen (2009), Letizia Romanini Talk will take place as a set of interactions pressions of relationships and their dynam- made 1500 paper airplanes and throws each between the museum space, the audience, ics, choice of partners, and notions such as of these against the wall, after dipping their and the various exhibited works. In this way, stability within these relations. tips respectively in ink. Her actions seem to Noesen makes her audience her subjects Christoph Meier, born 1980 in Austria, lives highlight the countless and seemingly end- and asks them to change their position within and works in Vienna/ Austria. less motions of failure we struggle through the space in order to enhance the public’s www.christophmeier.net in our love-related endeavours. Despite their experience of the selected works, not merely nimble, airy flights, each plane is subject to through a passive gaze but through active ◆ the laws of gravity, and the limits that the participation. This will be followed by the In the installation Affection (2012) Max wall sets. opportunity to discuss and exchange our own Mertens entwines two chandeliers that be- Letizia Romanini, born 1980 in Esch Alzette/ meanings and expectations of love. gin to rotate as soon as a sensor detects any Luxembourg, lives and works in Luxembourg. Suzan Noesen, born 1985 in Luxembourg, movement in its vicinity. The lit candles serve www.letiziaromanini.com lives and works Berlin and Luxembourg. as symbols of lovers that approach each other unassertively, become increasingly en- ◆ Zwischen allen Stühlen der Liebseligkeit twined, and finally, devotedly, fully find their Kay Walkowiak’s works resonate sexual im- Performance by Julius Deutschbauer way towards each other. It is a homage to a agery, such as his pale blue seductive piece Wednesday, 12.09.2012, 8 PM, Free entry playful, baroque, and celebratory spirit of Ich, Ich (me, me) (2008) which sits as a pro- love whose open-endedness brings us back vocative juxtaposition of a sexually charged, For the exhibition Kann es Liebe sein? to a kind of love-dance choreography, that yet inanimate object. The sculpture rejects Julius Deutschbauer will perform the piece results in a frivolously kitsch-inspired image notions of physicality and appears completely ‘Zwischen allen Stühlen der Liebseligkeit’ of what it means to be in love. dysfunctional. This inconclusive sexuality (Between all chairs of lovingness). The work Max Mertens, born 1982 in Luxembourg, lives also becomes visible in his photograph titled takes the form of an exercise for the viewers and works in Luxembourg. Room # 602 (2009) which embraces the bi- to partake in- initiating reflections on what www.mmertens.com zarre and de-eroticised, ultimately leading love might be. Regarding the content of the to a void that excludes the physical and emo- work, Deutschbauer does not protect anyone ◆ tional aspects of lust, passion and attraction. from anything: he openly involves and dis- In the work Slow Dance Marathon (2005) Kay Walkowiak, born 1980 in Salzburg/ Aus- cusses topics, without shielding his audience Christodoulos Panayiotou reveals his editing tria, lives and works in Vienna/ Austria. or himself. Deutschbauer examines existing process behind a video recording of a perfor- www.walkowiak.artfolder.net definitions of love in literature, politics and mance held in Thessaloniki (Greece) of the religion by creating a dialogue about one’s same title. The performers danced alternate- ◆ own beliefs in and around love. The readings ly to a romantic slow dance on one day and In his video work Lerne Deutsch mit Petra will be in German only. then one night accompanied by well-known von Kant / Learn German with Petra von Kant Julius Deutschbauer, born 1961 in Klagen- love songs. According to Panayiotou, love is (2007) artist Ming Wong re-enacts key mo- furt/Austria, lives and works in Vienna/ a constructed ideal, defined and exemplified ments from the film The Bitter Tears of Petra Austria. by the sentimental music and exaggerated von Kant (1972) by Rainer Werner Fassbinder. www.bibliothek-ungelesener-buecher.com kann es liebe sein? 09—30 September 2012
1, 13 6, 7 10 Rol Maria Anwander Kay Walkowiak Suzan Noesen inkjet print on fine art paper The Kiss Ich, Ich Fragen zur Verbindung? 100 x 150 cm Video, 3.13min loop, label 150x180x65 cm /The Opening Talk 2012 2010 steel, varnish, plastic, mirror ball-pen on paper „sans titre / extrait de la série My Most Favourite Art 2008 29,7 x 21cm ephemera“ stolen labels, Room #602 2012 inkjet print on fine art paper diverse formates C-print 70 x 100 cm 2004 – ongoing 100x75cm 11 2008/ 2012 2009 Armand Quetsch „sans titre / extrait de la série 2 S / W (Diptychon) ephemera“ Max Mertens 9 Polaroids inkjet print on fine art paper Affection Christodoulos Each 8,6x10,8 cm 30 x 45 cm 80 x80 x150 Panayiotou 2012 2007/ 2012 two chandeliers, motor, sensor Slow Dance Marathon Nudist2 „sans titre / extrait de la série 2012 Video, 4.19min loop inkjet print on fine art paper ephemera“ Courtesy the artist and RODEO, 68,6 x 100 cm inkjet print on fine art paper 3 Istanbul 2012 40 x 55 cm Ming Wong 2005 2006/ 2012 Lerne Deutsch mit Petra Von „sans titre / extrait de la série Kant/ Learn German with Petra ephemera“ Von Kant inkjet print on fine art paper Video, 10min. loop 20 x 30 cm 2007 2008/2012 4 4 12 Letizia Romanini Christoph Meier Mat der Neus beilaafen ohne Titel (Love) / Auf die Nase fallen dimensions variable, steel, wood, 1500 paper airplanes, ink, styrofoam, plastic, rope, glue, dimensions variable, varnish. Courtesy the artist, 2009 Galerie Kamm Berlin and Galerie Nosbaum & Reding Luxembourg 5, 8 2012 Katharina Lackner I´m able to express myself 3 in unique ways Video, 19min. loop 2008 Very bright inside 9 Two desk lamps, dimensions variable 2010 2
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Wed.-Sun. 14-19 h. Fichtestrasse 2, 10967 Berlin www.grimmuseum.com [email protected]