The new trends in art production in Germany
June 7, 2017
Just an hour's drive away from the famous contemporary art exhibition in Kassel, the Documenta, another world-class exhibition organized in a five-year-cycle takes place this year in Hanover.
The third edition of the exhibition series "Made in Germany," jointly shown at the Sprenger Museum, the Kunstverein and the Kestner Gesellschft in Hanover, focuses on such questions as how artists work in Germany today and how a strong concentration of universities, art schools and cultural institutions influence art production.
No restrictive definition of 'German art'
The result provides an inventory and an overall impression of the world's newest art.
One of the trends identified by Carina Plath, vice-director of the Sprengel Museum, is that "art is now more strongly being created through collective processes," she says.
Artists also tend to include a reflection on the spaces of creation and exhibition in their works, she explains.
The exhibition intentionally avoids trying to provide a definition of German art and features many international artists.
The Berlin-based Greek artist Yorgos Sapountzis has included sculptures from the collection of the Sprengel Museum in his installation. "I am creating a dialogue between artworks from different periods," he explains. His work is called "Naked Heritage. We Need You All."
The artist Schirin Kretschmann has covered the floor with blue pigments and taken down the suspended ceiling to add light to her work, called "Physical," influencing the exhibition space itself.
The Berlin collective "Das Numen" offers a sound installation that is connected to the wind data of 20 weather stations worldwide.
The German-American artist Timur Si Quin has created promotional posters for a new religion whose myths aim to overcome the world's cataclysmic changes.
Renowned artists working in Germany
The exhibition also features renowned names such as Julius von Bismarck, Amy Lien & Enzo Camacho, Hito Steyerl, the Dutch conceptual artist Willem de Rooij and the photographer Thomas Ruff.
"Made in Germany" has become an international seal of quality, and this applies to this exhibition as well. The selected artists mainly work in Germany, but they all have strong international ties. Many of them work in networks and collectives.
More and more artists are crossing their medium's borders by integrating theater, performance and music in their works. The growing flow of goods in a globalized and digitized world also has its impact on the arts.