KölnSkulptur #8
June 2015–June 2017
Opening: June 14, 11am
Press conference: June 12, 11am
Skulpturenpark Köln
Entrance: Riehler Straße and Konrad-Adenauer-Ufer
50668 Cologne
Germany
Hours: Daily, April–September, 10:30am–7pm,
October–March, 10:30am–5pm
Admission free
info [at] skulpturenparkkoeln.de
The 14 of June will see the opening of KölnSkulptur #8, showing the eighth exhibition of outdoor sculptures at Skulpturenpark Köln. This new exhibition was curated by Thomas D. Trummer. With it, Stiftung Skulpturenpark Köln is continuing the KölnSkulptur exhibition series initiated by the park’s founders Michael and Eleonore Stoffel. The previous biennial exhibitions showed the works of established as well as upcoming artists, bringing together works by German and international artists.
“Sculptures are statements of dissent, not ornamental islands.”
–Thomas D. Trummer
Encircled by busy thoroughfares, Skulpturenpark Köln is an area somewhere between quiet enclave and urban periphery, park and no man’s land. It is this space-defining tension which Thomas D. Trummer is drawing on for KölnSkulptur #8. It served as guiding principle in the process of selecting the artists and defines the subject of his exhibition. The seven new works are meeting bodies, blocks and view-obstructing objects. Their immovable presence is meant to inspire thought about current developments in the German and European political landscape. Alongside these, Thomas D. Trummer allows the bigger part of present works to remain in the park, creating new emphases and shifts of focus.
Five of the seven new works were commissions. They all share the ideas of framing and the opposite, exclusion. The US conceptual artist Tom Burr is showing frames positioned onto the lawn, forming a cluster, creating a forest of darkened mirrors. Lois Weinberger, native of Tyrol, draws an aisle through the park, at the same time tear and cut, serving as road of invasion for immigrant plants. The artist duo Slavs and Tatars is dealing with the migration of language by having giant prayer beads protrude from the ground. Amalia Ulman, born in Buenos Aires, is showing a wire grid. The object is done in a similar manner as Latin American immigrants do name tags or small jewellery. It depicts a wheelchair. Edith Dekyndt from Belgium works with ephemeral phenomena like wind, weather or tidal movements. She covered the steel of the entrance doors with copper. Climatic influences will eventually give the copper a green patina and in this way integrate it with its natural surroundings. Santiago Sierra, resident of Madrid, displays a gigantic black concrete cube whose sides carry metal figures, showing the time spent on its production. It is a monument of work and exploitation, a flawless Kaaba telling a story of deprivation. Matt Mullican, US artist and currently living in Berlin, makes his encyclopedic world system visible on two benches.
Artists participating
Tom Burr, James Lee Byars, Nina Canell, Edith Dekyndt, Jimmie Durham, Bogomir Ecker, Peter Fischli / David Weiss, Günther Förg, Sou Fujimoto, Dan Graham, Lena Henke, Jenny Holzer, Bethan Huws, Leiko Ikemura, Anish Kapoor, Stefan Kern, Hubert Kiecol, Per Kirkeby, Klara Lidén, Matt Mullican, Jorge Pardo, Manfred Pernice, Mandla Reuter, Ulrich Rückriem, Michael Sailstorfer, Karin Sander, Thomas Schütte, Joel Shapiro, Santiago Sierra, Slavs and Tatars, Andreas Slominski, Mauro Staccioli, Mark di Suvero, Rosemarie Trockel, Amalia Ulman, Simon Ungers, Bernar Venet, Bernard Voïta, Paul Wallach, Lois Weinberger, Martin Willing, Heimo Zobernig
Curator Thomas D. Trummer
Former head of Kunsthalle Mainz, he has taken on the direction of Kunsthaus Bregenz (KUB) since May 2015. In 2011, Thomas D. Trummer was responsible as co-curator with Kasper König for the major exhibition Vor dem Gesetz (Before the Law) at Museum Ludwig, Cologne.
Catalogue
Following the opening, a catalogue will be published by Verlag der Buchhandlung Walther König, Cologne, with contributions by Sabeth Buchmann, Thomas D. Trummer, and Wolfgang Ullrich, as well as interviews with the artists participating and documentation of all new works.
KölnSkulptur #8 is kindly supported by
Michael and Eleonore Stoffel Charitable Foundation / City of Cologne / Christian Pohl GmbH / Siebel Druck & Grafik
Contact
Stiftung Skulpturenpark Köln
Elsa-Brändström-Straße 9
50668 Cologne
Germany
T +49 (0) 221 33 66 88 60 / F +49 (0) 221 33 66 88 69 / info [at] skulpturenparkkoeln.de