Goch/Moyland.
Exhibition of the West German Association of Artists for the first time on the Lower Rhine. How the joint show clears a major bureaucratic hurdle in museums
The cover of the catalog shines in blue and yellow: Lower Rhine sky over blooming rapeseed fields, on the one hand. But in these times also an address of solidarity to Ukraine: Art thrives on its ambiguity, and so the annual exhibition of the West German Artists’ Association is ambiguous in the best sense of the word. And: in several places. For the annual exhibition of the association, the museums in Goch and Moyland have joined forces and – oh ha – managed for the first time to make a joint ticket for a municipal and a state-sponsored house possible – high art in bureaucratic hurdles.
So what’s there to see, something like 40/60 in favor of the bigger house in Moyland? Numerous positions by artists who have brought just about everything from simple drawings to large sculptures to the walls, into the rooms and, above all, into the respective outdoor areas of the museums.
A journey of discovery, two locations, 15 kilometers of the Lower Rhine
For guests the chance to go on an exciting journey of discovery on the Lower Rhine – not only because the houses in the “Blickfelder”, as the exhibition is called, are 15 kilometers apart. But also because the banal and the ingenious, the ironic and the serious are placed side by side by around 100 artists and everyone will find works that will move their hearts or minds.
In Moyland, for example, Julia Doktormann’s rather comical “Night Table Crab” crawls out of a wooden piece of furniture, Peter Paul Berg installs an “expansion” with his colored ribbons, and Christoph Dahlhausen presents his neon tube sculpture “Stabilizing Light” in front of those inspired by nautical charts “nautical publications” by Anett Frontzek. There is plenty of room in the castle rooms for Satomi Edo’s wooden constructions, while next door the video installation by Thomas Gerhards loudly punches “points of view” out of a map – in front of colorful overalls by Vera Drebusch, who is using it to answer the question “What color is East/West? “.
An eye-catcher is the gilded Dutch urinal by Thomas Klegin, which is raised on a plinth and is enthroned in front of the entrance to the castle as a “fountain”. It is also worth taking a closer look in the gardens, where instead of supposed plant signs, small text panels with weird messages await attentive observers.
In Goch, for example, there is the sculpture “Autumn” by Beate Höing, which is reminiscent of Chinese porcelain, and the impossible sculpture on crutches by Isabell Kamp, which remains in the subjunctive and is entitled “Woul Could Maybe(Not)”. Also worth seeing is the somewhat hidden video installation “Mountain” by Anna Lytton (because it was necessarily presented in a darkened room). On the other hand, Hyun-Goyung Kim’s very irritating “Bacteria in Abdominal Training” is funny, while Evangelos Koukouwitakis’ gloomy picture “Natura Morte 2” is irritating. With the neon light play object by Timm Ulrichs, “Love & Revolt” come together, just as the exhibition unites opposites anyway.
No, the dog is not allowed outside!
Like the cute dog on a roller board that Anne Kückelhaus left on a leash on the upper floor with the request “make yourself useful – dog”. Nevertheless, it is not permitted to take the sculpture with you when walking through the small museum garden, which is also decorated with sculptures, where, for example, Peter Schwickerath’s “Carrier Sculpture” stands.
Philipp Valente, on the other hand, tries to achieve the greatest possible success with the least possible effort: he hangs up a completely white picture in each of the two houses, with a red adhesive dot on it, which usually signals that a work of art has found a buyer. Title of the quasi-non-work: “Being a successful artist”: to be a successful artist – that would be desirable for all participants.
It’s good that the 30-year-old Jacqueline “Jackie” Bamfaste and Jonas Hohnke (39) are two artists who, as scholarship holders at Ringenberg Castle, are more of a young talent. Among other things, she presents a life-size baby made of plaster. He hoisted colorful googly-eyed flags on Moyland’s tallest tower. With this, as well as with the selection of the positions, the West German Artists’ Association, a child of the immediate post-war period founded in 1946, succeeds in showing more than works in honor of graying artists from North Rhine-Westphalia.
“Blickfelder”: Until February 20th in Goch and Moyland, combination ticket 8.25 euros, photo book: 144 pages DIN A4, 20 euros. Further information: www.moyland.de or museum-goch.de
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