TO BE HONEST, I NEVER WANTED TO BECOME
AN ELECTRICIAN ANYWAY
BBA Gallery, Berlin (DE)
July 10 - August 07, 2021
BBA Gallery
Köpenicker Strasse 96
10179 Berlin
Germany
Opening
July 10, 2021, 18.00 – 21.00
Exhibition period
July 10 - August 7, 2021
Opening hours
Tue - Sat, 11.00 - 18.00
Swiss artist Nicolas Vionnet is fascinated by irritations. A multi-disciplinary artist, Vionnet is creator of thought-provoking, jarring and sometimes playful interventions between objects, conceptual paintings and installations which provoke a dialogue with their environment. His works do not shout for attention, but instead present themselves through subtlety and wit. To engage with his works is to feel a build-up of tension that challenges viewers and triggers curiosity. As one of the winners of the BBA Artist Prize 2018, this is Vionnet’s first solo exhibition with BBA Gallery.
Like an electrician wiring a circuit, Vionnet interconnects objects together. However, instead of closing the circuit and creating functionality through the correct interconnection, Vionnet's work may appear functional for a split second then impossible on second glance. In “221 Reasons to say No” a set of bathroom scales is bedecked with metal nails pointing upwards, while in “Always stand on the bright side of life” a floor lamp merges with a walking frame. An industrial power socket with a wig stuck inside is called: “To be honest, I never wanted to become an electrician anyway.” Each object is in itself commonplace, with the titles of the interventions also somehow familiar, yet by integrating elements and the visual language of each object, the artist achieves the reaction he hopes for: irritation, reflection, a smile.
With his indoor, and sometimes outdoor installations, Vionnet continues his principle of irritation and integration. These are interventions of the quiet kind, where the viewer is invited to enter into a dialogue. Visitors to the gallery hear the splashing of a shower head dripping water coming from another room – then on entering the next room they are confronted by a bathroom where an old bathtub invites them to shower in the unsuitable location of a gallery. What remains is astonishment. This room installation is given the title “Maria, if you had stayed tough, we would have been spared Christmas” turning the visitor’s perception upside down and tempting them to immerse themselves in their own story.
When describing his process, Vionnet speaks of "non-hierarchical dialogue" where the artistic work does not rise above its environment and its message is not pre-defined by the artist. In this sense, viewers can also be understood to be part of the environment of an object or an installation; their internal processes, irritation, amusement or lack of understanding become part of the work and are all equally valid. Vionnet says, “the expression 'non-hierarchical dialogue with the environment’ describes my conviction that the work of art itself should never dominate. Actually, there shouldn't be a hierarchy. Ideally, there is a balance between work and the environment. This balance enables the viewer to perceive both components at the same time.”
Vionnet also plays with the existing artistic expectations in the field of painting. His large-format paintings in the series “Untitled” are devoted to drapery; a motif that is significant in art history and which, if executed convincingly, underscores the painter's mastery. Vionnet dedicates himself to the topic in a completely different way, through a direct and conceptual approach. The raw fabric of each canvas is draped with layer after layer of transparent, black paint via a spray can, leading to different parts becoming loaded with compacted paint. Wherever the fabric of the canvas is raised, the paint sticks, leaving other areas white. After this painting process, the fabric is stretched and drawn onto the canvas. So simple, so convincing.
For further information please visit:
Download the press release and exhibition fyler here
TWINGI LAND ART 2021
Landschaftspark Binntal (CH)
Closing on October 17, 2021
Landschaftspark Binntal
Valais, Switzerland (CH)
Closing on October 17, 2021
Participating artists: AKUNZO (Karola Pezarro & Aris de Bakker), Kaspar Bucher, Maria Ceppi, Maëlle Cornut, Petra Fankhauser & Manuel Mengis, Olivia Fiechter, Sarah Hillebrecht, Daniel Ruggiero, Stefanie Salzmann, Pascal Seiler, Nicolas Vionnet, Elian Zinner
Also in 2021 the TWINGI LAND ART brings contemporary art to the Binntal. 14 artists are presenting sculptures, installations and interventions along the old road through the “Twingischlucht". The exhibition can be visited on an one-hour hike between "Steinmatten" and "Ze Binne“.
Events: Guided tours, July 18 and August 8, 2021
Meeting point: 12.20 pm, bus stop “Steinmatten“
Curator Luzia Carlen and participating artists will guide you on a walk through the exhibition. Who are the artists exhibiting in the Twingi? What are the ideas behind their works and what challenges did they face in realizing their interventions?
For further information please visit: https://www.landschaftspark-binntal.ch/en
Download the exhibition booklet here
13 ART STATIONS - ORBIT
Eschlikon (CH)
Closing on October 03, 2021
Silent opening: Sunday, May 09, 2021, 2 pm
Freely accessible at all times
Entire route approx. 15 km
An exhibition in public space presenting works by Joëlle Allet, ckö, Stefan Kreier, Almira Medaric, Victorine Müller, Elisabeth Nembrini, Ursula Palla, Sonja Rüegg, Christoph Rütimann, steffenschöni, Guido von Stürler, Nicolas Vionnet and Werner Widmer.
More than 20 years ago, as the villages of Eschlikon, Wallenwil and Hurnen merged, a border trail was installed in order to raise the spirit of the new community. The trail consists of 12 stations around the new political municipality.
Orbit comprises 13 outdoor art installations along this trail and is welcoming visitors to tour around Eschlikon. The works of selected Swiss artists are for half a year on display offering time to rest, discover, contemplate and enjoy the view.
When Eschlikon was founded in the 13th century, Switzerland at the time was in a phase of upheaval. Conflicts between the Pope and the Emperor facilitated the independency of major towns in Switzerland. Consequently the three forest Communities of Uri, Schwyz and Unterwalden formed an alliance in 1291 and successfully established new partnerships for the Confederation. Thurgau became a member much later. In 1798 Napoleon occupied the old Swiss Confederation and re-organised the country according to French standards. It was during this time when new cantons, such as Thurgau and Aargau, were created.
It’s not only common that communities, towns and states join forces but it also makes sense in order to accomplish set goals easier. In 2009 the Eschlikon Future Conference defined principles and values for the community that should 'shine like fixed stars in the firmament of Eschlikon'.
The 13 art installations are shining around the municipality of Eschlikon just like fixed stars. For Orbit the selected artists have intensively analysed the surroundings and are coming up with: golden play of light, framed landscape images, mirror images, space lines, bricks of clay, gigantic knots, gigantic wasps, mystic beings, wind chimes, white views, fairy braids, good wishes and fortune hazelnuts. And whereas the art stations are orbiting around Eschlikon just like geostationary satellites the visitors may move individually fast from one point to another.
All stations have free access and enable a new, different look at the municipality and the surrounding area: To see the big in the small and the small in the big things, is the guiding principle. The skilfully mastered works of art relate to natural phenomena, well known fairy tales or current events and are comprehensively documented on-site.
Orbit offers a concert by Tobias Preisig, a dance performance by Naomi Schwarz and guided walks with Corinne Schatz, Gabrielle Obrist & Claudia Reeb and Jordanis Theodoridis. Detailed information on the events, guided walks and the positions of the art works is combined on: http://www.0010.ch/exhibitions/aktuell/1188
The Cultural Trail Orbit was jointly developed by the Municipality of Eschlikon and widmertheodoridis gallery.
Work description, Nicolas Vionnet