When the angels from above / Alexander Kluge: Minutenfilme #4

argos is excited to present two new exhibitions: When the angels from above and Alexander Kluge: Minutenfilme #4.

When the angels from above
When the angels from above is a group exhibition with a succinct selection of international artists—AA Bronson and Ryan Brewer, Andrea Éva Győri, Elisa Pinto, Don and Moki Cherry, Grace Ndiritu, Laraaji, and Paul Shemisi Betutua—brimming with spirituality and healing.

In recent years, it has become ubiquitous to read artistic practice as “continuous self-reflection and regard for others” (Helen Molesworth). This reparative turn imagines audiences as damaged and in need of aid and recovery, while demanding of artists and artworks to enable healing. 

Rather than evoking such straightforward solutions, When the angels from above proposes artistic practices as prompts instead, in order to consciously navigate and intervene in hostile and violent public spheres. The artworks in the exhibition stage transformative moments set in a wide range of historical and imagined environments. Working through notions of freedom and unknown possibilities, the exhibition as a whole negotiates an intangible interconnectedness that is multidirectional and difficult to map.

Experiential, poetic, critical yet lighthearted, When the angels from above foregrounds alternative notions of healing. Instead of providing clear-cut and pragmatic responses to violence and hostility pervading everyday life, the exhibition presents complex processes that value open-ended and unresolved approaches. In so doing, it invites visitors to enter a space of mutual exchange that is both spiritual and anchored in the here and now.

When the angels from above takes its title from a Joe Smooth song, a beautiful, iconic early deep house track from Chicago, IL:

When the angels from above
Fall down and spread their wings like doves…

Curator: Niels Van Tomme

This exhibition is dedicated to the memory of Andrea Éva Győri (1985–2022), “an angel, whom we will never forget.” 

Alexander Kluge: Minutenfilme #4
Minutenfilme #4 is the fourth chapter of a year-long, rotating exhibition presenting five sequential constellations of eight films each by Alexander Kluge. Compiled by the eminent German filmmaker especially for this occasion, this presentation features selections of recent Minutenfilme—short, hybrid films that typically run from one to eight minutes.

Ranging from the theoretical to the operatic, from the cosmic to the mathematical, these short films spring from the filmmaker’s ever-curious and critical mind to enter into dialogue with contemporary and historical events. Kluge’s idiosyncratic editing technique—influenced by both the classic editing style of Hollywood and the dialectic editing theories of Soviet cinema—allows him to condense complex, and oftentimes highly absurd, ideas into a few minutes. 

The result is ironic, sharply biting social commentary that imagines an active role for the viewer: “The viewers are the medium, what they cannot imagine neither can exist in the medium.”

Alexander Kluge: Minutenfilme is organised in cooperation with Literaturhaus Berlin and Goethe-Institut Brüssel and is curated by Niels Van Tomme.