MOMENT IV: POST-SOLAR with Bernd Krauß at Shimmer

Artists: Bernd Krauß, Ruth Buchanan

Exhibition title: Moment IV: Post-Solar with Bernd Krauß

Curated by: Shimmer (Eloise Sweetman and Jason Hendrik Hansma)

Venue: Shimmer, Rotterdam, The Netherlands

Date: June 1 – August 31, 2018

Photography: all images copyright and courtesy of the artists and Shimmer, Rotterdam

Brimming with energy, MOMENT IV: POST-SOLAR with Bernd Krauß moves out of Shimmer to heatedly observe a new carbon offset scheme whereby consumers neutralise their meat intake by purchasing a tree. According to the green energy plan, the trees are planted in foreign countries on behalf of the diner. Bernd intends to reverse the procedure by installing plants grown by himself on the edge of the former petroleum harbour in South Rotterdam based on his meat consumption. If a forest can grow from the eating of a burger, cannot a social space be created from other phenomena?

Bernd’s artworks give a sidelong glance at the actions of feel-good carbon offset schemes by side-stepping global industry and green marketing. Transplanted in Shimmer, are paintings and sculptures as well as reclaimed textiles hung on a pre-WW2 handrail from a Rotterdam apartment made from ‘exotic’ wood. MOMENT IV: POST-SOLAR with Bernd Krauß shows our self-congratulatory position of personal and corporate social responsibility by cultivating Shimmer and its surrounds with materials that speak of more than single moments.

Bernd’s practice ranges from painting, drawing and sculpture to video, photography, printing, performance and theatre. His use of formats not specific to art and his preference for daily forms of action is characteristic of his work as much as the distance he consciously keeps to the type of expert artists, who, by repetition attain mastery in their specific technique and spread it throughout the art system. In his multi-formatted installations, casually set gestures and an unconventional formalism condense into unpredictable spaces of projection. Remaining in Shimmer is Ruth Buchanan’s Staunch, IN and break, break, break (2018) in a new form.

BERND KRAUß has participated in numerous solo and group shows including ‘Gaudiopolis – Attempts at a Joyful Society’ currently on view at the Leipzig Museum of Contemporary Art as well as the 11th Gwangju Biennale, South Korea in 2016. His solo retrospective exhibition ‘Das is heute Möglich,’ opened at the Kunstverein, Cologne in 2012, and his solo exhibition ‘We Continue BBDG’ opened at the Tensta Konsthall in Sweden in 2013. Krauß has been the recipient of grants and residencies, including at Bard College, NY; IASPIS, Stockholm; and Künstlerhäuser Worpswede. He earned his Diploma (MA) from the University of Hildesheim in 1996 in Applied Cultural Science and Practical Aesthetics. Krauß is editor-in-chief of his daily publication Der Riecher.

In the intersection of Waalhaven and Charlois, SHIMMER is an exhibition space that operates with an ever-changing studio-like mentality where knowledge arises through participation and experimentation. Alongside the exhibitions are platforms such as the events program Sunday Mornings and the online mixtape On the Waves, to move into personal and public space. Shimmer is co-initiated by Eloise Sweetman and Jason Hendrik Hansma. W: www.shimmershimmer.org FB: @shimmerrotterdam IN: @shimmer_rottedam

Moment IV: Post-Solar with Bernd Krauß, 2018, exhibition view, Shimmer, Rotterdam

Bernd Krauß, Oude Binnenweg KAMPIOEN ca.1920, 2017, tropical wood carved and carpentered, dimensions variable

Ruth Buchanan, Staunch In and break break break, 2018, chain curtain

Bernd Krauß, Solar-Panel 2, 2018, spray paint on glass frame, 70cm x 90cm

Bernd Krauß, Boney Ass, 2016, soapstone, 24cm x 18cm x 9cm

Bernd Krauß, Shells, 2015, mixed media on self-drying clay shelves, dimensions variable

Bernd Krauß, Drawing Centre, 2014-2018, selection of drawings, dimensions variable

Bernd Krauß, Wurst-Zipfel, 2018, whittled willow branches, preserved sausage ends, dimensions variable

Ruth Buchanan, Staunch In and break break break, 2018, chain curtain; Bernd Krauß, Soft gallery, 2018, chrome plated tubing, 252cm x 260cm x 260cm

Moment IV: Post-Solar with Bernd Krauß, 2018, exhibition view, Shimmer, Rotterdam

Bernd Krauß, Parcours d’Hiver, 2016, whittled juniper wood

Moment IV: Post-Solar with Bernd Krauß, 2018, exhibition view, Shimmer, Rotterdam

Bernd Krauß, Dyson, 2017, whittled apple wood, stone, hair tie; Bernd Krauß, Stål Sigge, 2017, welded aluminium & steel

Bernd Krauß, Bjorn Borg, 2013, wooden sculpture, 97cm x 19cm x 25cm; Bernd Krauß, Solar-Panel 1, 2018, spray paint on foam core, 80cm x 120cm

Bernd Krauß, Bjorn Borg, 2013, wooden sculpture, 97cm x 19cm x 25cm

Bernd Krauß, T.U.N.,2015, Watercolour on paper block, 24cm x 32cm

Bernd Krauß, Burgerbos, 2018, selection of homegrown and store-bought plants, dimensions variable; Bernd Krauß, Great Egret Charmer, 2013, Gasbeton, 102cm x 15cm