assume vivid astro focus & Yorgos Sapountzis
Menschen Tiere Sensationen
27. März – 17. Mai 2009

ancient vagrancy appolonian futurism

The Kunstverein Arnsberg is pleased to present the exhibition "Menschen Tiere Sensationen".

The artist duo assume vivid astro focus (Brazil/France) and the Greek artist Yorgos Sapountzis are developing a project together for the first time. The exhibition, subtitled "ancient vagrancy appolonian futurism", transforms the rooms into a temple of passion with site-specific interventions. The Kunstverein becomes a Gesamtkunstwerk, where we encounter the chaos of an initially unknown order.

Every day we are assaulted with information that we do not always want to know. Every day we dream of another peaceful world in which joy and love reign. However, we strive to realize the unrealized utopias of our society in the context of art, where existential problems transcend the boundaries of everyday life and take on a new form. Time and space merge with artists and visitors in a spectrum of colors, inviting a collective experience.

The magnificent exhibition challenges the limits of our perception and offers us a visual spectacle capable of activating all the senses. The attempt to find our bearings may fail, but this only encourages us to continue our search for knowledge. Passion, curiosity and fear intersect with the longing for love and freedom to place pleasure at the center of desire.

assume vivid astro focus (avaf) and Yorgos Sapountzis met as participants in the Athens Biennale 2007. avaf have exhibited at the São Paulo Biennial (2008), MoMA New York (2007/2008), Museum of Contemporary Art Tokyo (2007), Kunsthalle Wien (2006), Los Angeles Museum of Contemporary Art (2005), Tate Liverpool (2005) and the Whitney Biennial (2004), among others; this year avaf also have a solo exhibition at the Nasjonalmuseet Oslo.

Yorgos Sapountzi's works and performances have been shown at Hermes and the Peacock in Stuttgart (2009), the Biennial of Moving Images in Mechelen (2009), Art Basel Statements (2008), Künstlerhaus Stuttgart (2008), the National Museum of Contemporary Art Athens (2007) and the Macedonian Museum of Contemporary Art Thessaloniki (2007); he is currently nominated for the Deste Foundation Prize.