Deutscher Ritualismus, Philipp von Rosen Galerie
04.02.2017 – 25.03.2017
Group Exhibition
Cologne, Germany
An exhibition curated by Ignacio Uriarte
with Joseph Beuys, Anna & Bernhard Blume, Peter Dreher,
Hans-Peter Feldmann, Christian Jankowski, Jochen Lempert,
Peter Piller, Karin Sander, Corinna Schnitt
The exhibition German Ritualism is full of humor – a fundamental component of German conceptual art that is often ignored. It is a fine humor full of poetry and without any sarcasm, that intends to make us laugh at ourselves. Laugh at our desires and obligations, at what society turns us into and at our attempt to break out of social conventions.
In the exhibition, existing, often typical German rules, habits and customs are portrayed, performed, taken to a level of nonsense, broken or reversed. Sometimes the artists develop new rituals out of the old ones, drawing magical, alchemistic or shamanic powers out of banal day-to-day activities and changing our perception of the world, and therefore the world itself.
The exhibition is divided into two areas: The first area (ground floor) is of a documentary nature and presents photographs and videos of reality or of a reality modified by actions.
The second area (basement) is structured like a ritualistic prayer room in which a spoken mantra and serial paintings with circle motif put the visitor in a transcendental state.
From press release