Painting of Uncertain Places
July 27–September 16, 2012
Opening: July 26, 8pm
Frankfurter Kunstverein
Markt 44
60311 Frankfurt, Germany
Hours: Tue, Thur, Fri 11–7pm,
Wed 11–9pm, Sat, Sun 10–7pm
Nine years after the exhibition deutschemalereizweitausenddrei (2003), which drew large audiences, in the summer of 2012 the Frankfurter Kunstverein is once again presenting an exhibition solely dedicated to painting. Under the title Painting of Uncertain Places the show includes the work of Tilo Baumgärtel (Leipzig), Susanne Kühn (Freiburg), Antje Majewski (Berlin), and Hannes Michanek (Frankfurt), four artists who are well aware of the fetish-like character that figurative painting is presumed to have—and of its ambivalent relationship to the art market, the reproach of it being decorative, and how readily it can be appropriated for purposes of representation.
The exhibition at the Frankfurter Kunstverein demonstrates how open and layered figurative painting can be, when artists are conscious of the illusionary potential of the medium. It reveals the inherent capacity of these works to create worlds of their own, thus raising questions as to the role and place of the individual in the world.
The paintings by the four artists present inventions of worlds dominated by nature, culture, or society, which have the appearance of uncertain places and thus have the appearance of spaces that are negotiable and indefinite. The common thread running through the paintings of the exhibition is the image of the human figure in indeterminate settings. Through their careful compositions the artists create a layered sense of atmosphere, giving rise to compelling images of imaginary worlds, which tend to convey a sense of the present instead of a critical analysis of the contemporary. The works are open-ended (counter-)propositions and new articulations of the alternative paths that representative painting has continuously been exploring since the 19th century, in response to the then new documentary medium of photography.
Participating artists: Tilo Baumgärtel (GE), Susanne Kühn (GE), Antje Majewski (GE),
Hannes Michanek (GE)
Curator: Holger Kube Ventura, Director Frankfurter Kunstverein (Germany)
Press contact
Anne Kaestner: T +49 69 219314 30/40 / F +49 69 219314 11
presse [at] fkv.de / www.fkv.de (texts and images for download under PRESS)
*Image above:
Susanne Kühn, Green – The Arnolfinis, 2011. Courtesy The Fares Collection, photo: Bernhard Strauss, © VG Bildkunst, Bonn.
