Converter at Kunstmuseum St. Gallen

Artists: Olga Balema, Nina Beier, Raphael Hefti, Gabriel Kuri, Pamela Rosenkranz, Michael E. Smith

Exhibition title: Converter

Curated by: Lorenzo Benedetti

Venue: Kunstmuseum St. Gallen, St. Gallen, Switzerland

Date: February 3 – May 7, 2018

Photography: © Sebastian Stadler, all images copyright and courtesy of the artists, Kunstmuseum St. Gallen

The exhibition Converter deals with a special kind of contemporary sculpture. As the title suggests, the artwork becomes an aid that transforms space, our perception of time, and our stance toward social developments. From ways of using materials to their symbolic and social values to the form of the installation in the room, the participating artists analyze sculpture in the seemingly neutral exhibition space, which presents a variety of opposing positions through the artworks.

This makes it possible to highlight other aspects that are independent of the space. Thus, very different references to time and the work emerge in the exhibition venue. The nature and treatment of the materials of the sculptures, which offer clues about the production process, add a further temporal dimension so that the works contribute to an altered perception of the present moment. The time inscribed in the works seems to become visible. The language of everyday things changes in the proportions of the space and through changes of position. The combination of different artistic manners of expression also allows the artists to take a critical stance toward a society based on consumption. The resulting dispositive in the exhibition presents new perspectives and takes new positions.