14.08.–26.09.1993

A number of younger artists have in the past years been preoccupied with themes characterised by their relation to the world of lived experiences. The ongoing debate on sculptures in public space conveys an impression of this. The debate, however, is more wide-ranged; it also influences works that require the closed spaces of galleries and museums. One can observe quite diverse references to the tangible world of objects, objects which are accessible via subjective experience or which are made accessible via the works of art. What plays an important role in this context is the respective life-story of the artists: his/her memories ranging back to childhood, the change in perspective taking place as a result of increasing experience.

Seen under this aspect, artistic work often implies reconstruction but also construction of experience. To pursue a childhood memory can mean turning the standards of a technically and functionally organised world upside down, giving what is marginal a central role, touching a vital nerve that was thought to be buried in the machinery of an increasingly abstract and mediated form of communication.

The exhibition "Menschenwelt (Interieur)" ("World of Humans (Interior)") is a meeting of eight younger artists who for some time have been working intentionally or subconsciously on similar themes:

Michael Bach, Düsseldorf (painting)
Gisela Bullacher, Hamburg (photography)
Maureen Connor, New York (sculpture)
Andreas Exner, Frankfurt (sculpture, installation)
Martin Honert, Düsseldorf (sculpture)
Hermann Pitz, Düsseldorf (sculpture, installation)
Wolfgang Schlegel, Düsseldorf (sculpture)
Luc Tuymans, Antwerp (painting)

The term "Menschenwelt (world of humans)" is to be understood as a poetic variant of the philosophical concept of "Lebenswelt (life-world)" (Husserl); the metaphor aims at the relationship of humans to the alienated horizons of consciousness in their world of objects. The subtitle "Interieur (interior)" aims at tuning the individual works to be seen in the exhibition so that they refer to each other. In the best case, the impression of a strange interior oriented to multiple layers is created.

Interior additionally signifies the specific modalities in furnishing the world for oneself; it therefore also refers to the interior dimension of the exhibition context.

Photos: Katrin Schilling