Artists: Juliette Blightman, Ellen Gronemeyer, KAYA, Martin Kohout, Katrin Mayer, Chris Reinecke, Pablo Schlumberger
Exhibition title: Realismus mit Schleife
Venue: Kunstverein Harburger Bahnhof, Hamburg, Germany
Date: February 23 – May 19, 2019
Photography: all images copyright and courtesy of the artists and Kunstverein Harburger Bahnhof
From February 23 to May 19, Kunstverein Harburger Bahnhof presents “Realismus mit Schleife” (Realism with a Bow) with Juliette Blightman, Ellen Gronemeyer, KAYA, Martin Kohout, Katrin Mayer, Chris Reinecke and Pablo Schlumberger at Kunstverein Harburger Bahnhof. The artists contemplate the loops and dynamics that are inscribed in the friction between subject and reality in a variety of ways and media: painting, drawing, video, sculpture, and installation. What is understood as reality is a fragile interplay of different conditions and relationships that pass through subjective as well as sociocultural and even technical filters.
The bow in the exhibition title is borrowed from Chris Reinecke’s work (born 1936). The impetus for this group exhibition was an increasing fascination with her works from the 1960s to the present; it does not view them as a historical point of departure, however, but as part of an intergenerational, contemporary artistic production.
Realism is, by necessity, enmeshed in its present. In work and time, observations, images and techniques, bodies and identities, and in spaces. It has an observant perspective and the material it deals with is also a social material. This enmeshing entails a proximity to what exists, but also a distance—offering an open space, but not necessarily security. In it one can search for an understanding and a dialog in which expiration dates and values are present. Loops that can be tied and loosened, and are always an invitation.
Pablo Schlumberger, Chris Reinecke, Installation view Realismus mit Schleife (Realism with a bow), Kunstverein Harburger Bahnhof 2019, photo: Michael Pfisterer
Pablo Schlumberger, Am Arsch vorbei geht auch ein Weg, 2019 & KAYA: S is for Switch (Chamberbag Brotox), 2014-16, Installation view Realismus mit Schleife (Realism with a bow), Kunstverein Harburger Bahnhof 2019, photo: Michael Pfisterer
Chris Reinecke, Pablo Schlumberger, KAYA, Installation view Realismus mit Schleife (Realism with a bow), Kunstverein Harburger Bahnhof 2019, photo: Michael Pfisterer
Installation view Realismus mit Schleife (Realism with a bow), Kunstverein Harburger Bahnhof 2019, photo: Michael Pfisterer
Juliette Blightman, Installation view Realismus mit Schleife (Realism with a bow), Kunstverein Harburger Bahnhof 2019, photo: Michael Pfisterer
Juliette Blightman: Loved an image (20th May) – Kantstr, 2017 & I’m really sorry about yesterday, 2017, Installation view Realismus mit Schleife (Realism with a bow), Kunstverein Harburger Bahnhof 2019, photo: Michael Pfisterer
Chris Reinecke, Installation view Realismus mit Schleife (Realism with a bow), Kunstverein Harburger Bahnhof 2019, photo: Michael Pfisterer
Chris Reinecke: (v.l.n.r.), M.B. u. Kleidung der M.B. in M.B, 1969/70, Woll-Seiden-Jersey-Kluf, 1969/70, Wie kleidet sich Minna Beuf in Minna Beuf/Antarktis?, 1969/70, Transport bei Minna Beuf (Klumpfüße), 1969/70, Die Nordrhein-Westfälischen Indianer brauchen Transport, 1970, Transport 1. Mai 70, 1970, Transport, 1970, Installation view Realismus mit Schleife (Realism with a bow), Kunstverein Harburger Bahnhof 2019, photo: Michael Pfisterer
Chris Reinecke: Die Beobachterin verlässt ihren stationären Posten, 1998 & Die Beobachterin verlässt ihren stationären Posten, 1996-98, Installation view Realismus mit Schleife (Realism with a bow), Kunstverein Harburger Bahnhof 2019, photo: Michael Pfisterer
Martin Kohout, Juliette Blightman und KAYA, Installation view Realismus mit Schleife (Realism with a bow), Kunstverein Harburger Bahnhof 2019, photo: Michael Pfisterer
Martin Kohout: Slides, 2017 (vorne), Juliette Blightman und KAYA, Installation view Realismus mit Schleife (Realism with a bow), Kunstverein Harburger Bahnhof 2019, poto: Michael Pfisterer
Pablo Schlumberger: Bar Putti, 2019, Installation view Realismus mit Schleife (Realism with a bow), Kunstverein Harburger Bahnhof 2019, photo: Michael Pfisterer
Pablo Schlumberger: Bar Putti, 2019, Installation view Realismus mit Schleife (Realism with a bow), Kunstverein Harburger Bahnhof 2019, photo: Michael Pfisterer
Martin Kohout: Then you are welcome, puffy blue, 2018 & Then you are welcome, fluffy pink, 2018, Installation view Realismus mit Schleife (Realism with a bow), Kunstverein Harburger Bahnhof 2019, photo: Michael Pfisterer
Pablo Schlumberger: Am Arsch vorbei geht auch ein Weg, 2019, Installation view Realismus mit Schleife (Realism with a bow), Kunstverein Harburger Bahnhof 2019, Foto: Michael Pfisterer
Ellen Gronemeyer, Installation view Realismus mit Schleife (Realism with a bow), Kunstverein Harburger Bahnhof 2019, photo: Michael Pfisterer
KAYA: S is for Switch (Chamberbag Brotox), 2014-16, Installation view Realismus mit Schleife (Realism with a bow), Kunstverein Harburger Bahnhof 2019, photo: Michael Pfisterer