Uncheck the box to avoid the aggregation and analysis of your behaviour data collected on this website. Done
Looking for something specific?
Just start typing anywhere to search anything.

Yours, KOW

Social Violence

, Santiago Sierra, Cady Noland

Apr 30 – Jul 29, 2011

DeutschEnglish

In Cady Noland and Santiago Sierra, we are bringing two artists together who regard social violence not as a departure from social normality but as an expression of the normative form of rule and economic system we all implicitly support: capitalism and liberalism. That has not always made their art easily digestible to the public.

Mit Cady Noland und Santiago Sierra bringen wir zwei Künstler zusammen, die soziale Gewalt nicht als Abkehr von gesellschaftlicher Normalität betrachten sondern als Ausdruck der von uns mitgetragenen normativen Herrschafts- und Wirtschaftsformen: Kapitalismus und Liberalismus. Das macht ihre Kunst für die Öffentlichkeit nicht immer leicht verdaulich.

In the 1980s, Noland provoked observers by denouncing the myth of the self-determination of US-Americans and their love of freedom as an imperialist gesture. Sierra was accused of criticizing the humiliating instruments of capitalist domination by merely mirroring them in his own artistic practice, effectively turning the victims of social violence into victims also of his art and inflicting a second humiliation on them. Yet we believe that both descriptions are overly simple. We hope to show that Sierra as well as Noland hit a deeper neuralgic spot of social conditioning: a moralistic mask concealing social repression.

Noland’s oeuvre has recapitulated the violent history of white America: the historic land grab and westward expansion (we are showing the Log Cabin, 1990), the architectures of social exclusion (Metal Fence, Frame Device, 1990), the aggressive media industry of our day (Enquirer Page with Eyes Cut Out, 1990). The promises of freedom and happiness held out by America’s founding myth, Noland argues, have long openly sanctioned social violence.(1) Today, however, the self-perception of American society either represses or glorifies violence. The culture of liberal capitalism has surrounded itself with a sphere of moral principles that, suggesting social harmony, in fact cunningly conceals repression and exploitation. Noland’s analysis culminated in the memorable image comparing American culture today to the actions of a psychopath.(2) Incapable of empathy like the psychopath, she argues, American culture organizes a fundamental fraud that turns the hopes, fears, and worries of others into instruments serving the satisfaction of its own drives, while camouflaging its exploitative aims. To draw secret profit from the weaknesses of other people, Noland claims, has become a cultural norm.

Noland provozierte bereits in den Achtziger Jahren damit, dass sie den Mythos US-amerikanischer Selbstbestimmung und Freiheitsliebe als imperialistischen Gestus denunzierte. Sierra wurde vorgeworfen, die demütigenden Herrschaftsinstrumente des Kapitalismus um den Preis zu kritisieren, dass er sie in seiner eigenen künstlerischen Praxis lediglich spiegele und die Opfer sozialer Gewalt nun auch noch zu Opfern seiner Kunst mache – und dabei erneut demütige. Beide Charakterisierungen greifen in unseren Augen aber zu kurz. Wir wollen zeigen, dass Sierra wie Noland einen tieferliegenden, neuralgischen Punkt sozialer Konditionierung treffen: eine moralistische Maskierung sozialer Repression.

Noland hat in ihrem Werk die gewaltvolle Geschichte des weißen Amerikas rekapituliert: die historische Landnahme und West-Expansion (wir zeigen die Log Cabin von 1990), die Architekturen sozialer Exklusion (Metal Fence, Frame Device, 1990), die aggressive Medienindustrie unserer Tage (Enquirer Page with Eyes Cut Out, 1990). Lange hätten Freiheits- und Glücksversprechen im Gründungsmythos der USA Gewalt offen sanktioniert, so Noland.(1) Heute werde Gewalt jedoch in der gesellschaftlichen Selbstwahrnehmung entweder verdrängt oder verklärt. Die Kultur des liberalen Kapitalismus umgebe sich mit einer moralischen Sphäre, die soziale Harmonie suggeriere, tatsächlich aber Repression und Ausbeutung nur listig verberge. Nolands Analyse gipfelte in dem denkwürdigen Vergleich der heutigen US-Kultur mit dem Verhalten des Psychopathen.(2) Empathielos wie dieser organisiere sie einen fundamentalen Betrug: Sie instrumentalisiere die Hoffnungen, Ängste und Sorgen anderer zur Befriedigung eigener Triebe, vertusche aber ihre ausbeuterischen Ziele. Heimlich Profit aus den Schwächen anderer Menschen zu schlagen, so Noland, sei zu einer kulturellen Norm geworden.

A norm which Sierra sabotages. Where his work seems to profit from the weaknesses of others, it exhibits—publicly and without any recourse to moral principles—the very techniques of social repression Noland saw as veiled. He has eighty-nine Mexican Huicholes photographed from behind as though to reconfirm their displacement from their native territory (2009). The (bad) teeth of the last Roma of Naples are documented like the dentition of a horse whose residual value is to be determined (2009). A war veteran mortified by guilt complexes stands in one corner of our gallery for his usual small wage (2011). Sierra neither makes any apologies for the violence humans inflict on other humans, nor does he criticize it. He brings it to the field of art, exhibits it, allowing its victims to step out from the shadow of moralistic denial and idealization. His work demands that we recognize the feelings and acknowledge the (defeated) struggles of those people our own economic and political systems put in the very shameful situation Sierra presents to us as such. Yet he refuses to grant his audience the absolution of a critical art that, striking a progressive pose, denounces repressive conditions without actually changing them. He thus also disrupts the art scene’s self-deluding belief that it occupies a place exempt from these conditions.

In the gallery’s courtyard, we are showing one stage of Sierra’s most recent project, Destroyed Word. Workers erect and then destroy individual letters on various sites around the world. The destruction of the Berlin "T" will take place on May 1 at 2 pm.
The exhibition was curated by Alexander Koch and Nikolaus Oberhuber. It has been produced in collaboration with Wilhelm Schuermann and displays several central pieces from Gaby and Wilhelm Schuermann’s extensive collection of works by Cady Noland.

(1) Cp. Michèle Cone, Interview with Cady Noland, Journal of Contemporary Art. vol. 3 no. 2, 1990
(2) Cp. Cady Noland, Towards a Meta Language of Evil, BALCON No. 4, 1989 / Catalog Documenta 9, 1992

Text and photos: Alexander Koch

Eine Norm, die Sierra sabotiert. Wo sein Werk Profit aus den Schwächen anderer zu schlagen scheint, zeigt es Techniken sozialer Repression, die Noland verschleiert sah, öffentlich und ohne jeden Rekurs auf moralische Prinzipien. 89 mexikanische Huicholen lässt er von hinten fotografieren, so als wolle er die Verdrängung aus ihrem Heimatterritorium noch einmal bestätigen (2009). Die (schlechten) Zähne der letzten Roma von Neapel werden dokumentiert wie Gebisse von Pferden, deren Restwert man bestimmt (2009). Ein von Schuldkomplexen beschämter Kriegsveteran steht in einer Ecke unserer Galerie, wie üblich für geringen Lohn (2011). Weder entschuldigt noch kritisiert Sierra die Gewalt, die Menschen Menschen antun. Er trägt sie ins Kunstfeld, stellt sie aus. Dabei erlaubt er den Opfern dieser Gewalt, aus dem Schatten moralistischer Verdrängung und Verklärung zu treten. Sein Werk fordert die Anerkennung der Gefühle und der (verlorenen) Kämpfe der Menschen, die unsere eigenen wirtschaftlichen und politischen Systeme in eben jene beschämende Lage bringt, die Sierra uns als solche präsentiert. Jedoch verweigert er seinem Publikum die Absolution durch eine kritische Kunst, die repressive Verhältnisse aufklärerisch denunzieren, aber nicht ändern kann. Er unterbricht damit auch den Selbstbetrug der Kunstszene, die gerne glaubt über einen Ort zu verfügen, der über diese Verhätnisse erhaben sei.

Im Hof der Galerie zeigen wir eine Etappe von Sierras jüngstem Projekt Destroyed Word. An verschiedenen Orten der Welt werden einzelne Buchstaben von Arbeitern errichtet und wieder zerstört. Die Zerstörung des Berliner T findet am 1. Mai um 14 Uhr statt.
Die Ausstellung wurde kuratiert von Alexander Koch und Nikolaus Oberhuber. Sie entstand in Zusammenarbeit mit Wilhelm Schürmann und zeigt zentrale Stücke aus Gaby und Wilhelm Schürmanns umfangreicher Sammlung von Werken Cady Nolands.

(1) Vergl. Michèle Cone, Interview with Cady Noland, Journal of Contemporary Art. vol. 3 no. 2, 1990
(2) Vergl. Cady Noland, Towards a Meta Language of Evil, BALCON No. 4, 1989 / Katalog Documenta 9, 1992

Text und Fotos: Alexander Koch

Exhibition tour with Alexander Koch / Part 1

Exhibition tour with Alexander Koch / Part 2

  • Current
  • Upcoming
  • 2024
  • 2023
  • 2022
  • 2021
  • 2020
  • 2019
  • 2018
  • 2017
  • 2016
  • 2015
  • 2014
  • 2013
  • 2012
  • 2011
  • 2010
  • 2009

Current

Upcoming

2024

exercises in popular gymnastics

, Santiago Sierra
Mar 9 – Apr 13, 2024

Fremdkörper (Am Schwarzenbergplatz, Vienna)

, Candice Breitz, Marco A. Castillo, Dierk Schmidt, Sharona Franklin, Baseera Khan, Brilant Milazimi, Hana Miletic, Mie Yim
Feb 17 – Mar 23, 2024

My Mountain Has No Summit

, Simon Lehner
Nov 18, 2023 – Feb 25, 2024

2023

Teatro Popular

, Peter Friedl
Sep 15 – Nov 4, 2023

Like a Good, Good, Good Boy

, Hiwa K
Apr 28 – Jul 22, 2023

Casa Negra

, Marco A. Castillo
Mar 17 – Apr 15, 2023

Barbara Hammer & Hudinilson Jr

, Estate of Barbara Hammer, Hudinilson Jr
Mar 17 – Apr 15, 2023

Watching TV in Narva

, Tobias Zielony
Jan 28 – Mar 4, 2023

Das Auto Rosi aber

, Anna Boghiguian, Candice Breitz, Marco A. Castillo, Alice Creischer, Chto Delat, Heinrich Dunst, Anna Ehrenstein, Peter Friedl, Sophie Gogl, Clegg & Guttmann, Estate of Barbara Hammer, Hiwa K, Simon Lehner, Renzo Martens, Oswald Oberhuber, Mario Pfeifer, Santiago Sierra, Michael E. Smith, Franz Erhard Walther
Nov 26, 2022 – Jan 14, 2023

2022

Proof of the Unthinkable

, Mario Pfeifer
Sep 16 – Nov 12, 2022

JOINT VENTURES: Carlos∕Ishikawa, London

Richard Sides – Basic Vision
Sep 16 – Nov 12, 2022

KOW at Sperling, Munich: Various Others 2022

, Anna Ehrenstein, Andrew Gilbert
Sep 10 – Oct 15, 2022

Latest News

Istvan Kantor
Jul 15 – Aug 20, 2022

Canary Archive

, Chto Delat
Jul 15 – Aug 20, 2022

KOW at LA MAISON DE RENDEZ–VOUS, Brussels: Kleine Beestjes

, Sophie Gogl
Jul 6 – Aug 31, 2022

Anna Boghiguian

, Anna Boghiguian
Apr 29 – Jun 25, 2022

Anna Boghiguian / Alice Creischer

, Anna Boghiguian, Alice Creischer
Apr 29 – Jun 25, 2022

BALOT

, CATPC, Renzo Martens
Feb 11 – Apr 8, 2022

The Albanian Conference: Home Is Where The Hatred Is

, Anna Ehrenstein, feat. DNA, Fadescha, Rebecca-Pokua Korang
Nov 12, 2021 – Jan 29, 2022

Idea / Ideal

, Marco A. Castillo
Nov 12, 2021 – Jan 29, 2022

2021

Michael E. Smith

, Michael E. Smith
Sep 10 – Oct 31, 2021

The Bell Project

, Hiwa K
Jun 18 – Jul 24, 2021

Joint Ventures: Felix Gaudlitz, Vienna

Milena Büsch, Simon Lässig, Vera Lutz
Jun 18 – Jul 24, 2021

Jars

, Sophie Gogl
May 1 – Jul 24, 2021

What must not be, cannot be

, Mario Pfeifer
May 1 – Jun 12, 2021

Joint Ventures: Galerie nächst St. Stephan Rosemarie Schwarzwälder, Wien

Sonia Leimer – Junks of Joy
May 1 – Jun 12, 2021

Downstairs: Forced Love

, CATPC
Mar 26 – Apr 18, 2021

Permanente Veränderung

, Oswald Oberhuber
Mar 8 – Apr 18, 2021

JOINT ventures: Modern Art, London

Collier Schorr - Day for Night (1992/2021)
Mar 8 – Apr 18, 2021

Online exhibition: works on paper

, Oswald Oberhuber
Feb 1 – Mar 26, 2021

KOLONNEN - hohenzollern ist jetzt ein Verb

, Dierk Schmidt
Nov 20, 2020 – Jan 30, 2021

Downstairs: Airmail Paintings 186 and 192

, Eugenio Dittborn
Nov 20, 2020 – Jan 30, 2021

Online exhibition: The films

, Eugenio Dittborn
Dec 4, 2020 – Jan 31, 2021

2020

Online exhibition: One night in a social network

, Chto Delat
Oct 4 – Dec 4, 2020

Would You Like to Meet Your Neighbor?

, Estate of Barbara Hammer
Sep 11 – Nov 7, 2020

Downstairs: Two recent films

, Tobias Zielony
Sep 11 – Nov 7, 2020

OUT OF THE DARK II

, Candice Breitz, Chto Delat, Clegg & Guttmann, Alice Creischer, Heinrich Dunst, Estate of Barbara Hammer, The Cabinet of Ramon Haze, Hiwa K, Frédéric Moser & Philippe Schwinger, Oswald Oberhuber, Mario Pfeifer, Dierk Schmidt, Santiago Sierra, Michael E. Smith, Franz Erhard Walther, Clemens von Wedemeyer, Tobias Zielony, CATPC, Anna Ehrenstein, Christoph Schäfer
May 23 – Aug 15, 2020

Online exhibition: The Illusion of a Crowd

, Clemens von Wedemeyer
Apr 7 – May 31, 2020

Labour

, Candice Breitz
Feb 29 – Apr 30, 2020

Machines to change the world

Elena Asins
Feb 15 – Mar 14, 2020

Downstairs: Maschinen zur Veränderung der Welt

, The Cabinet of Ramon Haze
Feb 15 – Mar 14, 2020

TOASTED ANGELS, SOUNDS OF STEEL

, Estate of León Ferrari
Nov 23, 2019 – Feb 1, 2020

Michael E. Smith

, Michael E. Smith
Sep 13, 2019 – Jan 25, 2020

2019

Stadtschlawinereien

, Alice Creischer, Dierk Schmidt, Michael E. Smith, Brandlhuber+, Larissa Fassler, Adelita Husni-Bey, Peng!, Andrea Pichl, Andreas Siekmann, Bárbara Wagner & Benjamin de Burca, Weekend & Plaste, et al.
Sep 7 – Nov 9, 2019

Oberhuber. Un futuro.

, Oswald Oberhuber
May 31 – Jul 27, 2019

Clegg & Guttmann and Franz Erhard Walther

, Clegg & Guttmann, Franz Erhard Walther
Apr 26 – Jul 27, 2019

Make up

, Tobias Zielony
Mar 2 – May 18, 2019

Ostalgie

Henrike Naumann
Feb 2 – Apr 28, 2019

His Master's Voice

, Alice Creischer
Nov 24, 2018 – Jan 19, 2019

Crusoe

, Eugenio Dittborn
Nov 24, 2018 – Jan 19, 2019

Contribution to Light. The Early Works of Barbara Hammer

, Estate of Barbara Hammer
Sep 13, 2018 – Jan 31, 2019

2018

Was euch am Leben hält, ist, was bei uns zu Asche zerfällt *

, Alice Creischer, Mario Pfeifer, Michael E. Smith, Tobias Zielony, Henrike Naumann
Sep 8 – Nov 10, 2018

EL OTRO, EL MISMO / THE OTHER, THE SAME

Los Carpinteros
Apr 28 – Jul 21, 2018

Maskirovka

, Tobias Zielony
Mar 24 – Apr 15, 2018

Double Bodies

, Frédéric Moser & Philippe Schwinger
Feb 10 – Mar 17, 2018

Hotel Résistance

Ahmet Öğüt
Nov 25, 2017 – Jan 28, 2018

2017

Michael E. Smith

, Michael E. Smith
Sep 16 – Nov 5, 2017

Love Story

, Candice Breitz
Apr 29 – Jul 30, 2017

On the Possibility of Light

, Chto Delat
Feb 18 – Apr 9, 2017

On Fear and Education, Disenchantment and Justice, Protest and Disunion in Saxony / Germany

, Mario Pfeifer
Dec 1, 2016 – Apr 15, 2017

The Cabinet of Ramon Haze

, The Cabinet of Ramon Haze
Nov 19, 2016 – Jan 29, 2017

Things, Not Words

, Heinrich Dunst
Nov 19, 2016 – Jan 29, 2017

2016

Barbara Hammer & Oswald Oberhuber

, Estate of Barbara Hammer, Oswald Oberhuber
Sep 17 – Nov 6, 2016

Out Of The Dark

, Chto Delat, Alice Creischer, Eugenio Dittborn, Heinrich Dunst, Estate of Barbara Hammer, Hiwa K, Renzo Martens, Chris Martin, Frédéric Moser & Philippe Schwinger, Mario Pfeifer, Dierk Schmidt, Tina Schulz, Michael E. Smith, Franz Erhard Walther, Clemens von Wedemeyer, Tobias Zielony, The Cabinet of Ramon Haze
Jun 26 – Jul 31, 2016

The Citizen

, Tobias Zielony
Apr 30 – Jun 12, 2016

This Lemon Tastes of Apple

, Hiwa K
Apr 30 – Jun 12, 2016

Broken Windows 6.3

, Dierk Schmidt
Mar 12 – Apr 16, 2016

Cast Behind You The Bones Of Your Mother

, Clemens von Wedemeyer
Dec 19, 2015 – Feb 27, 2016

2015

Left To Our Own Devices

Hito Steyerl
Sep 17 – Dec 5, 2015

A Summer Of Films

, Chto Delat, Alice Creischer, Eugenio Dittborn, Heinrich Dunst, Estate of Barbara Hammer, Renzo Martens, Frédéric Moser & Philippe Schwinger, Mario Pfeifer, Tina Schulz, Michael E. Smith, Franz Erhard Walther, Clemens von Wedemeyer, Tobias Zielony, Screening program
Jun 28 – Jul 26, 2015

Approximation In The Digital Age To A Humanity Condemned To Disappear

, Mario Pfeifer
May 2 – Jun 25, 2015

A Lucky Day

, Renzo Martens, CATPC
May 2 – Jul 26, 2015

Time Capsule. Artistic Report on Catastrophes and Utopia

, Chto Delat
Feb 28 – Apr 18, 2015

Have A Crush

, Estate of Barbara Hammer
Jan 10 – Feb 14, 2015

Dream Lovers. The Films 2008–2014

, Tobias Zielony
Dec 6, 2014 – Feb 14, 2015

2014

Dämmstoffe

, Heinrich Dunst
Nov 1 – Dec 18, 2014

Pinturas Aeropostales

, Eugenio Dittborn
Sep 13 – Nov 23, 2014

Cool Drink on a Hot Day

, Chris Martin
May 3 – Jul 27, 2014

In The Stomach Of The Predators

, Alice Creischer
Mar 1 – Apr 19, 2014

2013

Körperformen

, Franz Erhard Walther
Nov 30 – Feb 13, 2013

40 cbm Of Earth From The Iberian Peninsula

, Santiago Sierra
Sep 14 – Oct 30, 2013

Michael E. Smith II

, Michael E. Smith
Apr 27 – Jul 13, 2013

Dignity

, Estate of Barbara Hammer
Feb 16 – Apr 14, 2013

Believers

, Alice Creischer, Chto Delat, Estate of Barbara Hammer, Frédéric Moser & Philippe Schwinger, Michael E. Smith, Franz Erhard Walther, Tobias Zielony, Zanny Begg, Joseph Beuys, Arno Brandlhuber, Ines Doujak, Philippe Halsman, Adrian Piper, Pussy Riot, Christoph Schlingensief, Andreas Siekmann, Santiago Sierra, Andreas Slominski, Sean Snyder
Nov 10, 2012 – Feb 3, 2013

2012

Im Archipel

Arno Brandlhuber
Sep 8 – Oct 21, 2012

Das Etablissement der Tatsachen The Establishment of Matters of Fact

, Alice Creischer
Apr 27 – Jul 22, 2012

Manitoba

, Tobias Zielony
Feb 3 – Apr 15, 2012

Tina Schulz

, Tina Schulz
Nov 5, 2011 – Jan 28, 2012

2011

A Formal Film In Nine Episodes, Prologue & Epilogue

, Mario Pfeifer
Sep 10 – Oct 28, 2011

Social Violence

, Santiago Sierra, Cady Noland
Apr 30 – Jul 29, 2011

Barbara Hammer

, Estate of Barbara Hammer
Feb 12 – Mar 17, 2011

Franz Erhard Walther

, Franz Erhard Walther
Nov 6, 2010 – Feb 11, 2011

2010

Chris Martin

, Chris Martin
Sep 11 – Oct 24, 2010

Michael E. Smith

, Michael E. Smith
Jun 12 – Jul 25, 2010

Vele, Zgora

, Tobias Zielony
May 1 – Jun 5, 2010

The Fourth Wall

, Clemens von Wedemeyer
Jan 23 – Apr 22, 2010

Antirepresentationalism 3: Issues of Empathy Conceptual and Socially oriented Art in Leipzig 1997–2009

, The Cabinet of Ramon Haze, Mario Pfeifer, Tina Schulz, Clemens von Wedemeyer, Tobias Zielony, Peggy Buth, Jan Caspers/ Anne König/ Jan Wenzel, Chat, Markus Dressen, Famed, Till Gathmann, Lina Grumm, Andreas Grahl, Henriette Grahnert, Mark Hamilton, Bertram Haude, Ramon Haze, Oliver Kossack, Andrea Legiehn, Thomas Lüer, Claudia Annette Maier, Ulrich Polster, Julius Popp, schau-vogel-schau, Julia Schmidt, Tilo Schulz, spector cut+paste, Christoph Weber, Arthur Zalewski
Nov 28, 2009 – Jan 15, 2010

2009

Antirepresentationalism 2: Trouble with Realism. Conceptual and Socially oriented Art in Leipzig 1997–2009

, The Cabinet of Ramon Haze, Mario Pfeifer, Tina Schulz, Clemens von Wedemeyer, Tobias Zielony, Peggy Buth, Famed, Markus Dressen, Andreas Grahl, Henriette Grahnert, Eiko Grimmberg/ Arthur Zalewski, Mark Hamilton, Ramon Haze, Oliver Kossack, Claudia Annette Maier, Ulrich Polster, Julius Popp, schau-vogel-schau (Marcel Bühler, Alexander Koch), Julia Schmidt, Tilo Schulz, spector cut+paste, Christoph Weber
Oct 17 – Nov 21, 2009

Antirepresentationalism 1: Politics of Redescription. Conceptual and Socially oriented Art in Leipzig 1997–2009

, The Cabinet of Ramon Haze, Mario Pfeifer, Tina Schulz, Clemens von Wedemeyer, Tobias Zielony, Peggy Buth, Jan Caspers/ Anne König/ Jan Wenzel, Chat, Markus Dressen, Famed, Till Gathmann, Lina Grumm, Andreas Grahl, Henriette Grahnert, Mark Hamilton, Bertram Haude, Oliver Kossack, Andrea Legiehn, Thomas Lüer, Claudia Annette Maier, Ulrich Polster, Julius Popp, schau-vogel-schau, Julia Schmidt, Tilo Schulz, spector cut+paste, Christoph Weber, Arthur Zalewski
Sep 4 – Oct 10, 2009

KOW ISSUE 5: Spirituality and Anti-Universalism

, Chris Martin
May 1 – May 30, 2009

KOW ISSUE 4: THE SOCIAL USE OF SIGNS (OBLIGATION TO EXPRESS)

, Tina Schulz
Apr 3 – Apr 27, 2009

KOW ISSUE 3: Detroits' Post-Fordism

, Michael E. Smith
Mar 27 – Mar 29, 2009

KOW ISSUE 1: Participatory Minimalism

, Franz Erhard Walther
Feb 27 – Mar 21, 2009

Close