Artist: Johannes Wald
Exhibition title: first person view
Venue: Rolando Anselmi, Rome, Germany
Date: June 22 – September 28, 2024
Photography: Riccardo Malberti / all images copyright and courtesy of the artist and Rolando Anselmi, Rome
Rolando Anselmi is pleased to announce first person view, the third solo exhibition by Johannes Wald at the gallery. Wald’s work reflects on the embodiment of abstract concepts throungt a delicate minimalistic language, often questioning his self-image as an artist and his own ability to convey emotions through material forms. In this exhibition, themes such as identity, memory and failure resonate as a constant reminder: fragmented forms and symbolic elements are incorporated into the sculptures to evoke personal and collective memories, prompting the viewer to contemplate their own sense of self.
Two large works on paper, drawings, words and errant thoughts, hang on the walls of the upper floor of the gallery. Each consists of one of the artist’s notebooks, where the pages were shredded and used as recycled material for the production of the respective paper. Although the sheets appear blank, they contain, like a sort of DNA, sketches and notes made by the artist that become summaries of different time intervals. On another wall hangs a third work with the same title: this notebook has been completely covered with a thick layer of copper in an electroplating bath, thus removing it from legibility.
The large installation on the floor, atelier Johannes Wald, also also consists of galvanized objects, the first excerpt of an unfinished project. All the objects in the artist’s studio – tools, materials, personal objects, or discarded works – merge into the installation without any hierarchical judgment, creating a sort of archive in which each piece recreates a moment of private life in the artist’s studio.
The work range of my sentiments is installed in the upper corner of the room, connecting the two floors of the exhibition. The three arms represent the directions of a coordinate system and creates a kind of emotional space that incorporates all the other works in the exhibition.
The lower floor is dominated by the works from the stade du miroir series: results of complex processes involving different materials. The works, echoing Jacques Lacan’s theories of self reflection and creation of personal identity, are overlaid with the artist’s desire to validate his actions by creating a fragile image of himself. The exhibition path concludes with an imprint of the artist’s face in the wall, untitled (death is not an event in life). This negative of a face materially is made of emptiness and opens up the possibility of a different dimension, beyond physicality.
Johannes Wald (b. 1980, Sindelfingen, Germany) lives and works in Berlin. Recent solo exhibitions include: Galerie Rolando Anselmi (Rome, 2024, 2018; Berlin, 2022), Museum Moderner Kunst (Passau, 2022), Galerie Greta Meert (Brusselles, 2021, 2015, 2012), Schwartzsche Villa (Berlin, 2019), Daniel Marzona (Berlin, 2019, 2016), Kunsthalle Bielefeld together with Esther Kläs (Bielefeld, 2015), Museum Kurhaus Kleve (Kleve, 2014), Staatliche Kunstsammlung Dresden (Dresden, 2013), Konrad Fisher Galerie (Düsseldorf, 2012; Berlin, 2011; 2010). Selected group exhibitions include: Galerie Rolando Anselmi (Rome, 2023, 2020; Berlin, 2014), Museum Kurhaus Kleve (Kleve, 2022), Kunsthalle Bielefeld (Bielefeld, 2019, 2012), Hans-Peter-Zimmer-Stiftung (Düsseldorf, 2017, 2013), KIT (Düsseldorf, 2016), Kunsthalle Wilhelmshaven (Wilhelmshaven, 2014), Skulpturenpark Köln (Cologne, 2013, 2011), Kunsthalle Mannheim (Mannheim, 2012), Städtische Galerie (Sindelfingen, 2011), König Galerie (Berlin, 2011).
