Tobias Rehberger
Wrap it up
Deutsche Bank Collection and recent works on paper
19 September 2014–11 January 2015
MACRO – the Contemporary Art Museum of Rome
Via Nizza 138
Rome
Italy
Tobias Rehberger is one of the most eminent German artists of the contemporary international art scene. Wrap it up reveals a hitherto unknown aspect of his oeuvre. The exhibition offers a general overview of the artist’s works on paper. The drawings, collages, and prints are part of the Deutsche Bank Collection and date back to the period between 1991 and 2003. In addition, Rehberger has selected various works on paper, from the period from 2003 up to today. The exhibition is curated by Friedhelm Hütte, Global Head of Art at Deutsche Bank.
Wrap it up is illuminated by Rehberger’s “Infections”—33 unique lampshades made from Velcro ribbon, part of an ongoing project which began in 2002. The lampshades were originally produced by various assistants as prototypes and only altered by the artist if they did not meet his standards. However, the artist could not add any material to the original Velcro when making alterations.
With Wrap it up the partnership between MACRO – Contemporary Art Museum of Rome and Deutsche Bank continues. Previous joint projects include exhibitions featuring Yto Barrada (September–November 2012) and Imran Qureshi (September–November 2013), winners of Deutsche Bank’s “Artist of the Year” Award.
In 2009, at the 53rd Venice Biennale, Rehberger was awarded the Golden Lion for his installation Was du liebst, bringt dich auch zum Weinen (Everything you love makes you cry). He is represented in the Deutsche Bank Collection since 1992, while at the Deutsche Bank Headquarters in Frankfurt an entire floor is dedicated to him. In his work Rehberger constructs futuristic environments that play with light, space, furniture, signage and clothing, inspired by modernist art history and post-war design classics.
Especially with his works on paper, he acts like a researcher studying human relations with the objective world, whether he is copying costume jewelry or producing amateur-style watercolours of the battlefields of Verdun.
With his various forms of artistic output—from sculpture to industrial objects and handcrafted articles—Rehberger explores the wider sphere of structural design and architecture, thriving on chance connections and unexpected encounters. The concept of transformation is the central theme of his art. It focuses on the processes of perception and awareness, temporality and the sense of transience, discontinuity and ambiguity.
He radically questions the role of the artist and the common principles of artistic production. Partly standalone works, partly sketches or studies for projects Rehberger has executed for exhibitions and biennials, the works in Wrap it up give a complex insight into his artistic practice.
Tobias Rehberger was born in Esslingen, Germany, in 1966. He lives and works in Frankfurt.
His latest solo exhibitions include Schirn Kunsthalle, Frankfurt (2014); Galerie Bärbel Grässlin, Frankfurt (2012); Museum Ludwig, Cologne (2008); Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam (2008); Fondazione Prada, Milan (2007); Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofia, Madrid (2005); Whitechapel Gallery, London (2004); Galerie der Stadt Stuttgart (2003); Museu Serralves, Porto (2002); Palais de Tokyo, Paris (2002); Fundacío “la Caixa,” Barcelona (2002); Galleria Civica d’Arte Moderna e Contemporanea, GAM, Turin (2002); Museum für neue Kunst MKN, Karlsruhe (2002).
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