Curatorial Statement
Exhibitions are both event spaces and protected spaces that enclose a specific reality. They show the world within the framework of an ‘as if’ model. Like the artworks they present, exhibitions constitute a medium. In this way they set themselves apart from reality while remaining part of it. Exhibitions both afford and occupy space; they simultaneously present and represent, and they possess external validity and self-legitimacy in equal measure.
Curatorial practice involves taking the exhibition’s ‘in-between’ existence into consideration and implementing a dramaturgical notion of assembly, a ‘composition’ within the inner field of the available space. At the same time it means striving to achieve the best possible exposition of the individual works. Mass exhibitions, art fairs and mega-events are not in a position to do this: they arm themselves in scale and number, attempting to compensate with agglomeration and excess for what they most crucially lack, namely the capacity to exercise care and circumspection in well thought-out combinations of artworks. Exhibitions that set out to explore current artistic positions in a serious and thoughtful manner are clearly preferable, whether these positions are political or personal, simple or circumspect, assured or precarious.
It is a matter of taking viewers seriously, allowing them to share in artworks and proposals, and involving them in a process of questioning, considering, interpreting and judging. Arrogant overabundance and a patronizing, know-it-all manner not only fail to achieve this, they can also be intimidating or alienating, in the same way that all whitewashing serves to impair perception.
A guiding principle of my work is the idea that for an exhibition to be considered successful, all those who visit it should be able to recall all of the works on show at least a few days after their visit. This scarcely seems possible in view of the endless stream of images that flood our already saturated visual culture. High quality art that incorporates spatial conditions and evokes current dialogical contexts – both within and beyond the realm of art – can and must therefore continue to counter stubborn uniformity.
