Remote Memories

Steven Claydon, Thea Djordjadze, Hansjörg Dobliar, David Noonan, Bernd Ribbeck

May 16 to July 18, 2009

Curator: Zdenek Felix

In recent years a reawakening of interest in cultural historical phenomena has been observed within the contemporary European art scene. In Germany and Great Britain especially there have emerged several artists whose works—paintings, sculptures, photographs, and videos—update certain aspects of history, art history, literature, and films, not only from the classic modern era, but other periods, as well. An exhibition at London’s Tate Modern in 2007, titled The Rings of Saturn, gathered works by a number of young English and German artists who have approached cultural memory from a melancholic, romantic perspective, much in the same way that is expressed in W.G. Sebald’s frequently discussed novel of the same name. The group exhibition Remote Memories at KAI 10 | ARTHENA FOUNDATION in Düsseldorf traces the recent efforts made in today’s new art to deepen cultural memory. In the works by the artists selected it can be seen that history and memory are seldom based on direct experience, but tend to be mediated through various means. In this process, the boundaries between historically authenticated quotation and the fictionalization and associative appropriation of historical material are fluid. Besides a contemporary exploration of the themes of cultural history, the exhibition also reflects on the specific history of certain media, especially in twentieth-century art.

The selection is concentrated on artists from Germany and England. In Great Britain’s art scene, the choice fell on two London artists, Steven Claydon (born 1969) and David Noonan (born 1969), while Thea Djordjadze (born  1971 in Tiflis, Georgia) and Bernd Ribbeck (born 1974), both from Berlin, as well as Hansjörg Dobliar (born 1970) from Munich, will represent Germany.