Florian Slotawa: Stuttgart Sichten

To mark the opening of the newly renovated Kunstgebäude (art building) in the centre of Stuttgart, Staatsgalerie Stuttgart is showing a brilliant presentation of its own sculpture collection as an installation by the artist Florian Slotawa (b. 1972 in Rosenheim). In his new staging of the highly successful presentation at Deichtorhallen Hamburg in 2018, the Italian-based artist is showing over 50 sculptures from the Staatsgalerie’s collection in new contexts and unusual arrangements. The sculptures serve him as material for a sculptural Gesamtkunstwerk and at the same time provide an epochal overview of the development of sculpture and the 180-year history of the Staatsgalerie’s collection, which stretches from the 14th century to the present day.

On the one hand, the sculptures enter into exciting dialogues as Slotawa sorts them according to his own order or presents them on self-constructed pedestals made from Staatsgalerie furniture. On the other hand, as in the case of the Picasso ensemble “The Bathers”, he reconstructs them from DIY store materials because the original is no longer able to travel. In addition, he enriches the event with a pinch of everyday life by combining sculptures with ordinary objects. In this way, the artist takes the exhibition title “Stuttgart sichten” (Viewing Stuttgart) literally and incorporates washing machines and a sports car from Stuttgart manufacturers or beer glasses from local breweries into the presentation. These additions refer to Stuttgart as a business location and become direct components of the presentation itself. Florian Slotawa thus expands the concept of sculpture by using traditional sculpture as material for an artistic installation in the tradition of avant-garde departures. In the end, the question always remains: What is sculpture today?

With works by
John Adams-Acton (1830–1910), Alexander Archipenko (1887–1964), Hans Arp (1886–1966), Karl Begas (1845–1916), Rudolf Belling (b. 1886–1972), Max Bill (1908–1994), Charlotte Bönhoff (1901–1972), Alexander Calder (1898–1976), Anthony Caro (1924–2013), Eduardo Chillida (1924–2002), Johann Heinrich von Dannecker (1758–1841), Walter De Maria (1935–2013), Mark di Suvero (b. 1933),  Karl August Donndorf (1870–1941), Max Ernst (b. 1891–1976), Lucio Fontana (1899–1968), Otto Freundlich (1878–1943), Julio González (1876–1942), Otto Herbert Hajek (1927–2005), Rudolf Hoflehner (1916–1995), Donald Judd (1928–1994), Lotte Kaufmann (unbekannt), Ernst Ludwig Kirchner (1880–1938), Moisej Kogan (1879–1943), Jannis Kounellis (1936–2017), Norbert Kricke (1922–1984), Henri Laurens (1885–1954), Kaspar-Thomas Lenk (1933–2014), Richard Long (b. 1945), Aristide Maillol (1861–1944), Constantin Meunier (1831–1905), Christiane Möbus (b. 1947), Bruce Nauman (b. 1941), Clara Rilke-Westhoff (1878–1954), Auguste Rodin (1840–1917), Dieter Roth (1930–1998), Karin Sander (b. 1957), Florian Slotawa (b. 1971), Rolf Szymanski (1928–2013) und Timm Ulrichs (b. 1940).

Curated by Florian Slotawa and Hendrik Bündge.