Toter Raum 2006

- Jade Goody's death in the public eye, Welt Online, 23rd March 2009

- Der öffentliche Tod darf auch ein Kunstwerk sein, Welt Online, 23rd March 2009

- There is nothing perverse about a dying person in an art gallery, The Guardian, 26th April 2008

Gregor Schneider - Marienstraße, Winner of the Peill Prize 2008, Leopold-Hoesch-Museum, Düren, Germany, Curator: Renate Goldmann (Cat)

27.06.2010 - 15.08.2010

In 2008, Gregor Schneider was awarded the prestigious Peill Prize by the Günther Peill Foundation for his highly individual concept of sculptural space and his often psychologically disturbing works. Now in 2010, as part of the inauguration of the Treffpunkt Düren at the Leopold-Hoesch-Museum, the artist is to be presented with this award and stage a solo exhibition. We are delighted that this internationally acclaimed sculptor has created a new, expansive and site-specific installation, Marienstraße, for the Leopold-Hoesch-Museum.

Featured in the exhibition is a reconstructed section of road taken from the village of Pier, in the neighbouring district of Inden. Alluding to the local geography of the area in which the museum itself is situated, the work Marienstraße is exemplary for many of the communities, which have lived in the shadow of open brown-coal mining operations and the subsequent depopulation. Alone the choice of title refers explicitly to the original section of road, which has been reassembled in the Leopold-Hoesch-Museum, and thus highlights the work’s overt links with the real world.

With his installation Marienstraße, Gregor Schneider is exhibiting in the museum a section of public space. The reconstruction and transformation of this stretch of road into an artwork renders it now walkable for visitors and has rescued it from oblivion. Yet due to its “relocation”, the road now exudes the haunting aura of a past, now irretrievably lost.

The work Marienstraße is reminiscent of Schneider’s pre-occupation with deserted and dying villages at the beginning of the 1990s. From the abandoned houses the artist removed building materials, such as windows, doors and window frames, which he then artistically recycled in his house in the Unterheydener Strasse. It is within this context that the work Unbekannte Arbeit im verschwindenden Dorf Garzweiler (Unknown Work in the Disappearing Village of Garzweiler) was created.
This theme has continued to exercise the artist until the present day, as evidenced by the fi lm Hauptstraße from 2008, which features a camera tracking through the empty streets of a village, bearing the indelible scars of the legacy of brown-coal mining. Exhibited in the Leopold-Hoesch-Museum, the current installation Marienstraße confronts the viewer more starkly with reality. For in contrast to the film, the museum visitor can now walk upon the former road, and experience an unfamiliar and unsettling spatial construct on a personal, physical level.

Echoing some of Schneider’s earlier projects, which often draw closely on his own biography, this current work forges a topical reference to the history of the exhibition venue itself. Since his work Totes Haus u r, for which he was awarded the Golden Lion at the 2001 Venice Biennale, the reconstruction of existing buildings or parts of buildings, and their transportation into a new context at another site, have been an integral feature of Schneider’s artistic modus operandi: Through the juxtaposition of the quotidian and familiar at an unusual site, visitors to the exhibition find themselves immersed within a highly-charged fi eld of tension.
Back in 2002, Gregor Schneider had already surprised visitors to the Leopold-Hoesch-Museum by installing a garage. And with Marienstraße, the artist has once again demonstrated the importance of remaining vigilant for the unknown even within an ostensibly familiar space.

Dr. Renate Goldmann
Director Leopold-Hoesch-Museum & Papiermuseum Düren
Board Member Günther Peill Foundation

Cube Neuchâtel 2011, Neuchâtel, Switzerland, Curator: Arthur de Pury

July 2010

Curator: Arthur de Pury, Director of CAN (Centre d’art Neuchâtel), Switzerland
Mid-July through September 2011, in conjunction with the City of Neuchâtel’s 1000th anniversary

It was in 2003, having teamed up with a Muslim believer, that the idea of a black CUBE first cropped up in Gregor Schneider’s mind, incited by the remark If you want to learn more about space, you should focus on the Kaaba in Mecca. For a quarter of a century, Schneider has indeed been building spaces—spaces both visible and invisible, spaces that are totally isolated, including some into which no human being will ever again be able to set foot. The most famous of these to date is his Dead House u r of 1985, which won the Golden Lion award at the Venice Biennale in 2001. Taking the Muslim believer up on his word, the two delved into the Kaaba in Mecca. I simply felt a deep, instinctive need to learn more about this unfamiliar space, Gregor Schneider comments. Kaaba translates into cubic building, that is a cube.
According to Islamic tradition, the building came first and its significance only later. Every cube thus harks back to the Kaaba. The main thing here is that Islam prohibits idolatry—neither the stone nor the Kaaba are to be worshipped. Schneider notes: The Kaaba is one of the world’s most impressive, mysterious and beautiful buildings. It is a stone-walled sanctuary in Mecca. No one will ever be in a position to displace this sanctuary. Islam historically attributes the creation of the Kaaba to Abraham/Ibrahim. Hence, all three monotheistic religions can identify with the origin of this building in pre-Islamic times. Setting aside all the trademark features associated with the Kaaba in Mecca (the gold lettering, the rain water roof outlet, the white inwardly shifted roof), what remains is an abstract cube.

Gregor Schneider’s inspiration to build a black CUBE stems from both the Kaaba and the Western icon that is Malevich’s Black Square. Moreover, chronologically speaking, the CUBE was preceded by various sculptural works accomplished by Schneider in relation to the CUBE theme and black space.
The CUBE is a formally abstract, oversize sculpture. It is not a reconstruction of the Kaaba in Mecca, Schneider points out, and this statement alone already says it all: in its mass, its appearance and its function, the CUBE is a sculpture in its own right. All the rest is pure interpretation. The strength of the form is that it is free. The CUBE is no mirror reflection of the Kaaba, for as such it would look differently.
Schneider emphasizes that Its association with both the Kaaba in Mecca and the basic shape of modern art’s black square is deliberate.

The CUBE was politically censored in both Venice and Berlin. I was shattered to experience political censorship in the heart of Europe, and dismayed at how difficult it was to render public the reasons underlying the work’s banning. Schneider’s CUBE was successfully set up in Hamburg in 2007. Its realization did away with all the fears and uncertainties surrounding the project; instead, the people of Hamburg and well beyond adopted CUBE HAMBURG as a positive sign. Any ingrained cultural mistrust was forgotten; as a constructed symbol of the convergence of cultures, the CUBE had the power to evoke the historic connections between cultures. As such, it could even serve as a platform for peace.
Describing his own impression of the CUBE, Schneider says, It was a physically overwhelming experience for me to stand before this black, abstract cube. Automatically, I began running around it, as if running along the pathway towards myself. Standing in front of the CUBE was like standing in front of a mirror; looking up at the CUBE, the black wall turned into an expanse of space, and I had the optical impression I could run along that black space. It was the first time anyone told me : You have built something beautiful. For the first time, too, a delegation of fourteen imams visited the Hamburg Kunsthalle. A speech Schneider gave at a mosque to an audience of some 2500 Muslims, inviting them to visit the CUBE HAMBURG, won heartfelt applause. Despite the success of CUBE HAMBURG, a number of topnotch exhibition curators, all of whom have assured Schneider of how greatly they appreciate the CUBE, have failed to obtain permission to mount the project in Saragossa, Paris, London or New York. In my opinion, the artist asserts, the CUBE has long proven its aptness for travel.
Schneider takes pleasure in the fact that CUBE NEUCHATEL 2011 represents a second place in the world for the CUBE to be visited, and he hopes that in the coming years such a work will at last be welcomed in other cities as well: for instance, in Venice, Berlin, New York and London. Surely, CUBE NEUCHATEL 2011 will serve to demonstrate for all of Switzerland how the population deals with the distrust and misgivings between cultures. Describing the beauty of a cube invisible under its jet-black shrouding, Yasar Erdogan was put in mind of ...when one begins seeing black roses in the night.

Technical data:
- 14x14x14m including the concrete pedestal. Free-standing.
- Steel construction encased in woodbr
- Jet-black fabric cladding. Fabric: Trevira CS
Information on Gregor Schneider at:
German: http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gregor_Schneider
English: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gregor_Schneider
www.gregor-schneider.de, ur@gregor-schneider.de

English translation © Margie Mounier, April 2010

CURRENT EXHIBITIONS:

Intensif-Station, K21, Kunstsammlung Nordrhein-Westfalen, Düsseldorf, Germany, Curator: Susanne Meyer-Büser

10.07.2010 - 04.09.2011

ISTANBUL, ATHENS, MARRAKECH, PALERMO, CATANIA, museo d'arte contemporanea della sicilia, Catania, Italy, Curator: Rita Bertoni

10.07.2010 - 28.10.2010

Others. Le Biennali d'arte di Marrakech, Istanbul Atene a Palermo e Catania, Palazzo Valle, Catania, Italy

09.07.10-07.11.10

More is more, Center of Contemporary Art Znaki Czasu, Toruń, Poland, Curator: Joanna Zielińska, Agnieszka Pindera, Daniel Muzyczuk

25.06.2010 - 24.10.2010

En Privat 2. L'opció desamble, Museu d'Art Modern i Contemporani de Palma, Palma de Mallorca, Spain, Curator: Carlos Jover

20.05.10-05.09.10

With a Probability of Being Seen. Dorothee and Konrad Fischer. Archives of an Attitude, Museu D'art Contemporani De Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain, Curator: Friedrich Meschede

15.05.2010 - 12.10.2010

Wegen Sanierung der Toilettenanlage ist das Kabinett geschlossen, Kabinett für Aktuelle Kunst, Bremerhaven, Germany

24.01.2010 -

GARAGE 2009, Städtisches Museum Abteiberg, Mönchengladbach, Germany (Solo)

13.12.2009 -

DOUBLE, 40 Jahre Kabinett für Aktuelle Kunst, Museum für Moderne Kunst, Frankfurt am Main, Germany

07.03.2009 - autumn 2010

[ENGLISH]

Double - 40 Jahre Kabinett für aktuelle Kunst, Bremerhaven
Eine Ausstellungsreihe kuratiert von Gregor Schneider und Moritz Wesseler in Zusammenarbeit mit dem MMK Museum für Moderne Kunst Frankfurt am Main

7. März – Herbst 2010

Im Jahr 2003 erwarb das MMK Museum für Moderne Kunst in Frankfurt am Main mit dem Werk „N. Schmidt“ von Gregor Schneider den Nachbau eines Raumes, der nun zum Ausgangspunkt der Ausstellungsreihe Double wird: das Kabinett für aktuelle Kunst in Bremerhaven. 1967 von Jürgen Wesseler als nicht-kommerzielle Ausstellungsplattform gegründet, dient es seitdem als Experimentierraum der nationalen und internationalen Avantgarde. Eine große Zahl heute international bekannter Künstler, wie Gerhard Richter, Hanne Darboven, Sigmar Polke, Bernd und Hilla Becher oder On Kawara stellten in dem 33 Quadratmeter kleinen Ladenlokal sehr früh aus oder gaben ihre erste institutionelle Einzelausstellung, unter anderem Andreas Slominski und Isa Genzken. Viele kamen im Lauf ihres Lebens mehrfach an diesen Ort zurück und bezogen sich in ihren Werken immer wieder auf vorangegangene Ausstellungssituationen. Blinky Palermo stellte dort dreimal aus und realisierte 1970/71 seine legendäre Wandmalerei, die sich auf die Fensterfront des Kabinetts bezog.

Gregor Schneider nahm seine eigene performative Ausstellung „N. Schmidt“ aus dem Jahr 2001 zum Anlass, sie zwei Jahre später hier in Frankfurt am Main noch einmal aufzuführen. Dazu installierte er eine nahezu identische Version des Kabinetts dauerhaft im MMK, die nun den Rahmen der Ausstellungsreihe bildet. Bei dieser künstlerischen Strategie der Wiederholung beziehungsweise der Verdopplung seiner eigenen Arbeit handelte es sich bereits um ein Double.

2006/07 kam es anlässlich der großen Andreas Slominski-Werkschau im MMK zu einer direkten Kooperation mit der Bremerhavener Institution. Andreas Slominski und Gregor Schneider präsentierten gemeinsam, sowohl im Bremerhavener als auch in dem Frankfurter Raum simultan, zwei nahezu identische Werke, die sie speziell für die Schau konzipierten.

Die Ausstellungsreihe Double knüpft nun an dieses Konzept an. Neun historische Ausstellungen werden vom MMK in enger Zusammenarbeit mit Gregor Schneider rekonstruiert, der der Reihe auch den Titel gab. Im Rahmen von Double nimmt sein Kunstwerk damit die zusätzliche Funktion eines Ausstellungsraumes an, der zu einem Doppelgänger seiner selbst wird und damit Fragen nach Endgültigkeit und Einzigartigkeit aufwirft. Die Ausstellungen vermitteln einen Eindruck von der legendären und vielschichtigen Tätigkeit des Kabinetts und repräsentieren zugleich einen Querschnitt durch die Sammlung des MMK.

Wir danken der Stiftung Kunstfonds für ihre großzügige Unterstützung.

* * *

Double - Kabinett für aktuelle Kunst, Bremerhaven: Forty Years
An exhibition series curated by Gregor Schneider and Moritz Wesseler in collaboration with the MMK Museum für Moderne Kunst Frankfurt am Main

March 7 – Autumn 2010

In 2003, the MMK Museum für Moderne Kunst Frankfurt am Main acquired the work N. Schmidt by Gregor Schneider, the reconstruction of an exhibition space – the Kabinett für aktuelle Kunst in Bremerhaven – which is now the point of departure for the exhibition series Double.

Since its founding in 1967 by Jürgen Wesseler as a non-commercial exhibition platform, the Kabinett has served as an experimental forum for the national and international avant-garde. In what was originally a shop salesroom measuring a mere thirty-three square metres in area, a substantial number of meanwhile internationally renowned artists – among others Gerhard Richter, Hanne Darboven, Sigmar Polke, Bernd and Hilla Becher and On Kawara – presented their work at a very early stage in their careers. Some of them – for example Andreas Slominski and Isa Genzken – even held their first institutional solo exhibition there. Many of the artists returned to the Kabinett over the years to show new works frequently bearing a relationship to a preceding exhibition situation. Blinky Palermo exhibited there three times, and in 1970/71 realized his legendary wall painting based on the Kabinett’s shop front.

Two years after its original presentation in the Bremerhaven Kabinett in 2001, Gregor Schneider repeated his performative exhibition N Schmidt here in Frankfurt am Main. To this end, he permanently installed a nearly identical version of the Kabinett in the MMK which will now form the setting for the exhibition series. This artistic strategy of repetition, in other words the duplication of one’s own work, can already be understood as a double.

In 2006/07, as part of an extensive Andreas Slominski show at the MMK, a cooperation was carried out with the Bremerhaven institution. Andreas Slominski and Gregor Schneider jointly presented two simultaneous and nearly identical works especially conceived for the spaces in Bremerhaven and Frankfurt.

The exhibition series Double is a further exploration of this concept. In close collaboration with Gregor Schneider, who also gave the series its name, the MMK will reconstruct nine historical exhibitions. Within the framework of Double, his artwork will thus assume the additional function of an exhibition space, thus raising questions about the finality and uniqueness of art. The exhibitions will convey an impression of the legendary and multi-faceted activities of the Kabinett, while at the same time representing a cross-section of the MMK collection.

We are grateful to the Stiftung Kunstfonds for its generous support.

KONTAKT / CONTACT
MMK Museum für Moderne Kunst
Domstraße 10
60311 Franfurt / Main
T +49 (0)69.212 304 47
F +49 (0)69.212 378 82
mmk@stadt-frankfurt.de
www.mmk-frankfurt.de

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