Karin Sander

Karin Sander reacts with seismographic sensitivity to common, architectural, institutional and societal situations and subtly intervenes in the given. The exhibition at Kunsthalle Tübingen includes works from the last three decades that invoke everyday references in formal rigor, using a wide variety of materials and media such as 3D technologies or painting supports such as stretched canvases. In addition to her 3D body scans, her three-dimensional photographs, that are sculptural self-portraits, Karin Sander also shows her so-called “Gebrauchsbilder (Patina Paintings),” which have collected signs of wear in different places for a period of time. Her series of “Office Works” comprising more than 1000 sheets takes centre stage in the Tübingen exhibition. She began this compendium of works on paper in New York City in 1990 and pursues it to this day. The “Office Works” feature materials found on her office desk. Staged with intuitive flair and wit, the works are austere and poetic at the same time, inspiring us to discover magic and beauty even in everyday things.

Karin Sander lives in Berlin and Zurich. Her works have been presented in solo exhibitions and biennials throughout the world and are to be found in private and public collections of many countries like in The Museum of Modern Art, New York and San Francisco, the Metropolitain Museum, New York, The Museum of Contemporary Art Osaka, Staatsgalerie Stuttgart, Kunst Museum Winterthur, CGAC Santiago di Compostela among many others. Her works have also gained numerous awards. Since 2007 she has held the chair for Architecture and Art at the ETH (Eidgenössische Technische Hochschule) Zürich.

Curated by Dr. Nicole Fritz