Andreas Slominski
Über die Freundschaft (About Friendship)
Hannah-Höch-Preis 2013
30/11/2013–26/01/2014
Conversation Pieces
n.b.k. Showroom
3 December 2013–24 January 2014
Award ceremony and opening:
Friday, 29 November 2013, 7pm
Neuer Berliner Kunstverein (n.b.k.)
Chausseestraße 128 / 129
10115 Berlin
Germany
Hours: Tuesday–Sunday noon–6 pm,
Thursday noon–8 pm*
Andreas Slominski
Über die Freundschaft (About Friendship)
Hannah-Höch-Preis 2013
Curated by Marius Babias
By being awarded the Hannah-Höch-Preis 2013 by the State of Berlin, Andreas Slominski is honored for his extensive work. Slominski became internationally known with his traps, which—effectively being placed in the exhibition space—are expanding the concept of sculpture. His conceptual works reflect social, historical and economic coherences and explore social conditions and conventions.
The exhibition of Andreas Slominski takes place at Neuer Berliner Kunstverein and at the Brecht Weigel memorial rooms, as well as on the sidewalk along the walls of the Französischer and Dorotheenstädtischer cemetery.
Comprising sculptures, objects and interventions, the exhibition project forms a complex reference system between art, the institution, the topographical context and the historical figure Brecht. Andreas Slominski developed several groups of works, connecting both the exhibition venues and the cemeteries, topographically located in between, in an overall ensemble. As a reference to the automobile lover Brecht, the artist installed several towing signs on the sidewalk between Neuer Berliner Kunstverein, at the gates of Französischer and Dorotheenstädtischer cemetery, up to the garage in the courtyard of the Brecht Weigel memorial rooms. Where there were signs missing, they were added. Brecht’s former bedroom is located directly above his garage, in which once his ENW convertible was parked. Again, at Neuer Berliner Kunstverein, Slominski exhibits a sculptural ensemble made of two galvanized flat roof garages, inside of which exhibits from the Brecht memorial rooms can be seen, including personal items and a showcase with the eponymous Brecht poem Die Freunde (The Friends). Furthermore, a piece of stonework made of stones specially imported from China was built at Neuer Berliner Kunstverein—an allusion both to Brecht’s affinity for Chinese culture as well as to the tombs of the neighboring Dorotheenstädtischer cemetery, where Brecht is buried. The admission ticket to both venues represents a two-part object—one each at each venue—which the visitors are welcome to take home as a work of art after visiting the exhibition.
Biography
Andreas Slominski (b. 1959 in Meppen, lives in Werder an der Havel), from 1983 to 1986, studied at the University of Fine Arts of Hamburg. From 1997 to 2004, he was professor of painting at the Academy of Fine Arts in Karlsruhe; since 2004 he is professor of sculpture at the University of Fine Arts of Hamburg. Slominski received numerous awards, including the Karl Ströher Prize (1991), the Sprengel Prize (1995), the Aachen Art Prize (2004) and the Lichtwark Prize (2013). Recently his works were shown, among others, at MOCA Los Angeles (2013), at Hamburger Kunsthalle (2012), Kunstmuseum Winterthur (2012), Kunsthalle Zurich (2012), Museum Ludwig, Cologne (2011), Museum für Moderne Kunst, Frankfurt/Main (2011), Stedelijk Museum voor Actuele Kunst, Ghent (2010), Suntory Museum, Osaka (2010) and at the Witte de With Center for Contemporary Art, Rotterdam (2010).
Publication
A catalog accompanying the exhibition is published by Verlag der Buchhandlung Walther König Cologne, with a foreword by Marius Babias and texts by Durs Grünbein, Dietmar Rübel and Harald Welzer.
Program
Thursday, 12 December, 6pm
“Eine Anleitung zum Widerstand” (A Guide to Resistance)
Lecture by Harald Welzer (Professor of Transformation Design, University of Flensburg; Director Stiftung Futurzwei, Berlin), followed by a visit of the Brecht-Weigel memorial rooms at the Brecht House.
Thursday, 23 January 2014, 6pm
“Das Gesicht der Dinge” (The Face of Things): a movie night
Lecture by Dietmar Rübel (Professor of History and Theory of Arts at the Dresden Academy of Fine Arts), followed by a visit of the Brecht-Weigel memorial rooms at the Brecht House.
Sunday, 26 January 2014, 8pm
Routines
Performance by Barbara Steppe (artist, Berlin)
With Ingrid Buschmann, Kerstin Drechsel, Birgit Effinger, Thomas Fischer, Heiner Franzen, Peter Funken, Asta Gröting, Leiko Ikemura, Veronika Kellndorfer, Nina Koidl, Käthe Kruse, Nicola Kuhn, Hanne Loreck, Christiane Meixner, Matt Mullican, Britta Schmitz, Daniel Schreiber, Sassa Trülzsch, Marco Poloni, Ivo Wessel a. o.
Conversation Pieces
n.b.k. Showroom
Artists: Ana Luiza Dias Batista, Clara Ianni, Runo Lagomarsino, Paulo Nazareth, Beto Shwafaty, Daniel Steegmann Mangrané, Roberto Winter
Curated by Sophie Goltz
Based on the traditions of modernism in Brazil, the artists of the exhibition Conversation Pieces develop their own post-conceptual approaches. In their works they draw a differentiated picture of the society in Brazil today. An international generation of artists have their say, showing, beyond Eurocentric notions of Latin America, how the current changes in politics, economy and culture can be artistically explored and analyzed.
Program
Tuesday, December 3, 7pm
“A Tropical Conversation”
Artist talk with María Inés Rodríguez (curator, editor Tropical Papers (tropicalpapers.org), Mexico City / Berlin) and Carla Zaccagnini (artist, São Paulo / Berlin), in Spanish with simultaneous translation into German
Tuesday, Januar 14, 2014
Urgencias Urbanas / Urban Urgencies**
6pm: Performance-walk to Neuer Berliner Kunstverein by Ronald Duarte (artist, Rio de Janeiro, co-editor of Arte e Ensaios). For the meeting point, see www.nbk.org.
7pm: Magazine launch and video screening with Marilia Palmeira (art historian, Rio de Janeiro), in English
*The exhibition by Andreas Slominski will be closed from 24 to 26 December 2013 and on 1 January 2014, the n.b.k. Showroom will be closed from 24 December 2013 to 6 January 2014.
**Special edition of the magazine on the theory and practice of art Arte e Ensaios of the UFRJ | Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro (degree course Fine Arts) in cooperation with the Berlin-Weissensee School of Art (degree course Space Strategies) as part of the Germany Year (scientific pillar) in Brazil 2013–2014.
