Galeriestr. 4
80539 Munich
Germany
Bea Schlingelhoff
No River to Cross
September 11–November 21, 2021
In her artistic practice spanning more than 20 years, Bea Schlingelhoff works to remember women’s forgotten biographies, to dissolve patriarchal frameworks, and traces the persistence of fascist structures. A central aspect of her practice is the intuitive engagement with the history of the respective exhibition sites, making their sociopolitical (power) structures intelligible. The artist, whose work also encompasses drawing, sculpture, and typography, discloses these structures through site-specific interventions: additions, changes, and subtractions on architectural as well as structural levels. By shifting the relationships between these levels, Schlingelhoff reveals inherited notions of how spatial and juridical arrangements are structured.
For her solo exhibition No River to Cross at the Kunstverein München, Schlingelhoff deals with the structure of the institution as well as the Nazi history of the Kunstverein and that of its current site. The departure point here is, on the one hand, the Kunstverein’s complicity with the Nazi regime as well as the exhibition “Entartete Kunst” (Degenerate Art) which took place in 1937 and was partly held in the Kunstverein’s current building, albeit before it moved in in 1953. On the other hand, the long-term interventions in (institutional) structures that are characteristic of Schlingelhoff’s practice take the form of a proposal to amend the institution’s bylaws. This includes an apology from the Kunstverein München concerning its cooperation with the National Socialists and an acknowledgement of the joint responsibility for the injustices committed by them, as well as a lasting commitment to the principles of non-discrimination and equality. The proposal was submitted to a vote by the Kunstverein’s nearly 1,300 members. Schlingelhoff thereby investigates the question of individual artistic agency vis-à-vis institutional structures.
The exhibition is accompanied by Schlingelhoff’s first comprehensive publication, which includes contributions by Catherine Chevalier, Gloria Hasnay, Christina Irrgang, Helene Moll, and Sadie Plant.
Schaufenster
This fall, the onsite and online series Schaufenster features video works by Charlotte Moth as well as Bambitchell (Sharlene Bamboat and Alexis Mitchell). Moth’s film La Réserve centers around public sculptures owned by the city of Paris and documented in their storage space by the artist. Deprived of their commemorative and civic function, the casts become objects with no particular classification. Bambitchell’s film Bugs and Beasts Before the Law explores the medieval practice of putting animals and inanimate objects on trial, thus reimagining common perceptions of legal history. The work also considers how power is performed through the body of the other, revealing common ways in which institutions mediate social relations and subjecthood. The Schaufenster series has previously presented works by Sky Hopinka and Martin Beck, among others.
Between
on Robert Ashley
with Kyle Gann, Brian McCorkle, Paul Pinto; Scott Rogers, among others
November 26–27, 2021
Between is a series departing from music-based practices that temporarily converts the Kunstverein’s exhibition spaces into a stage for international musicians and performers. It takes place in the empty spaces between two exhibitions for the duration of 24 hours. The series commenced with the label and platform dispari run by Nguyen Phuong-Dan and continues with a program dedicated to the late U.S.-American composer Robert Ashley.
Peripheral Alliances
Artist residency
through December 2021
Peripheral Alliances is a residency located at the Ammersee. Distant, but not detached from the existing infrastructure of the Kunstverein, it forms an alliance in the periphery of Munich, and provides a context for artistic dialog and a space for communal production of more than 30 artists living and working there over the course of this year.
Director: Maurin Dietrich
Curator: Gloria Hasnay
Assistant Curator: Gina Merz
For further information, please contact our press office.
Due to the current situation, all dates might be subject to change. For updates, please visit our website.
