With a view to its exhibition program and the further development of its collection, the Städtische Galerie Karlsruhe is strengthening its media art section. In addition to the traditional focus on painting, sculpture, and drawing, works by media artists from the fields of video and installation can be seen in special exhibitions. The collection of time-based media will also be strengthened by new acquisitions and is expected to play a special role in the context of the new presentation of the collection in 2023. Recently acquired media art works include works by Pipilotti Rist, Elsa & Johanna, and Olaf Nicolai.
Laura Gaiser, Frucht Fleisch, 2022
4-channel video projection
Sound: Tobias Graf Karl
Laura Gaiser presents her latest artistic work in a show entitled Frucht Fleisch, meaning “fruit flesh/meat”. The work consists of stop-motion films created from thousands of still images. These are shown on transparent screens as four simultaneous projections in an installation that fills the Forum of the Städtische Galerie. Light and colour fuse multiple levels of reality into a startling new entity. With the help of costumes and accessories, the actors assume different identities, transforming themselves into zoomorphic beings using animal skins and body parts. The scenarios are alien and disturbing, and at times even shocking and nightmarish. In her film sequences the artist visualises dreams, hopes, and fears, creating a distinct space in which human-animal endeavours and courtships, as well as violence and wounding, can find unique expression.
The artworks of Laura Gaiser can be seen at the Städtische Galerie Karlsruhe until September 11, 2022.
Johanna Wagner, fool for a plant
In her most recent works Johanna Wagner shows the earth and its biosphere as a living being, just as it was described in the mid-seventies by natural scientists Lynn Margulis and James E. Lovelock in their Gaia hypothesis. The photographs, video works, and ceramics are testament to the artist’s profound yet humorous way of working, which involves whispering recipes, snapping open beans, and rhythmically grating radishes: the ASMR* music-video cookery show Bloom ’n Broom combines performance, video, dance, and music with the preparation of fruit and vegetables. The collaboration between artists Johanna Wagner and Ayla Pierrot Arendt, which came into being for the TRACKS exhibition series at the Kulturzentrum Tempel Karlsruhe, opens up spaces for ideas and action that are dedicated to themes of nature, reproduction, and diversity. The works Wavebreaker, Ant Dance, and Bewegte Teile (Moving Parts) address the question of movement and form in space. Dressed in convoluted foam, the artist poses in dance routines, choreographs the movement of organic forms in space, and ends by photographing the “ant dance”.
Die Arbeiten von Johanna Wagner sind noch bis zum 25. September 2022 in der Städtischen Galerie Karlsruhe zu sehen.
Opening hours: Wednesday to Friday 10 am to 6 pm, Saturday and Sunday 11 am to 6 pm, Monday and Tuesday closed.
Admission: 8 euros / 6 euros reduced. Free admission on July 23/24 and September 24/25, 2022, and every Friday from 2 pm.
Further information at: https://galerie.karlsruhe.de/ausstellung
