Transparencies at Bielefelder Kunstverein

Artists: Neïl Beloufa, Juliette Blightman, Ryan Gander, Calla Henkel & Max Pitegoff, David Horvitz, Metahaven, Katja Novitskova, Yuri Pattison

Exhibition title: Transparencies, The ambivalence of a new visibility

Curated by: Simone Neuenschwander, Thomas Thiel

Venue: Bielefelder Kunstverein, Bielefelder, Germany

Date: November 7, 2015 – January 17, 2016

Photography: Philipp Ottendörfer, images copyright and courtesy of the artists and Bielefelder Kunstverein

The exhibition project »Transparencies« examines the cultural facets and atmospheres of this (non-)transparency. While modern life is characterized by a desire for more transparency in communication, politics and business, limitless access to information has eroded personal privacy, creating an ever-present, now long-running social dilemma. The two-part, joint exhibition project in Bielefeld and Nuremberg is dedicated to developments in »transparent society,« and asks how these are reflected in current work by contemporary artists.

In the run-up to the exhibition, the graphic design studio Metahaven developed its own visual identity for »Transparencies« with a family of logotypes.* Considerations on the topic continue in the form of a symposium, a series of exhibition talks, workshops, and a shared project website (Design by Christoph Knoth and Konrad Renner).

On the one hand, »Transparencies« attempts to locate and update the phenomenon in cultural history, yet it also enables an understanding of the (borderline) experiences of this new visibility from a contemporary perspective. The project concludes with the publication of a comprehensive catalogue (featuring texts by Emmanuel Alloa, Clare Birchall, Manfred Schneider, among others).

Curators: Simone Neuenschwander and Thomas Thiel

* Metahaven was founded in 2007 by Vinca Kruka and Daniel van der Velden. Recent books include Can Jokes Bring Down Governments? (Strelka Press, 2013), Uncorporate Identity (Lars Müller Publishers, 2010), and Black Transparency (Sternberg Press, 2015). In 2013 Metahaven was awarded the Cobra Art Prize and named Design Studio of the Year by ICON magazine. Their work has been featured in publications such as 032C, frieze, e-flux journal, New York Times Magazine, Süddeutsche Zeitung, Libération, and Paper. Their work has been exhibited at MoMA PS1, New York (2013), Gwangju Design Biennale, (2011), Artists Space, New York (2013) and Museum of Modern Art in Warsaw, (2014) among others.