..alle Jahre wieder…
Jahresgaben 2019
8. Dezember – 26. Januar 2020

Banz & Bowinkel, Malte Bartsch, Kristina Berning, Lars Breuer, Hannah Sophie Dunkelberg, Angela Fette, Sebastian Freytag, Andreas Greiner & Alexandra Spiegel, Terry Haggerty, Anne Duk Hee Jordan, Reiner Maria Matysik, Guido Münch, Maximilian Prüfer, Anja Schwörer 

...Every year again... the Kunstverein Arnsberg shows its annual editions at the end of the year. Members of the Kunstverein Arnsberg can purchase the works and thus support the work of the artists and the activities of the Kunstverein. The group exhibition In Medias Res (February-April) was followed in 2019 by two solo presentations with works by Angela Fette (May-July) and Anne Duk Hee Jordon (September-November).

This year's Jahresgabenschau combines works by artists who have already been shown in exhibitions this year with new positions. The artistic contributions presented at the beginning of In Medias Res are continued and, in their current juxtaposition, open up a multifaceted kaleidoscope of contemporary art production:

While the Düsseldorf/Cologne artist group Konsortium showed a site-specific mural (Parallelwelten) in spring, Lars Breuer, Sebastian Freytag and Guido Münch are now represented as individual positions with abstract painting and photography. Angela Fette is showing a new painting from her writing-and-picture series presented in Arnsberg and watercolours. Anja Schwörer's colour field paintings are the result of a bleaching and folding process. Depending on whether the bleach is sprayed or poured, the fabric folded, knotted or covered, an abstract all-over pattern with colour gradients is created, which in turn point to the individual steps of the creation as a trace.

Terry Haggerty is characterised by expansive wall paintings with an illusionistic depth effect and shaped canvases with perfect surface perfection - consisting of several layers of paint with a final varnish that negates any ductus. In Arnsberg, he is showing drawings that refer to his sculptural works and evoke associations with topological figures.

Banz & Bowinkel are known for their virtual reality and augmented reality installations and have chosen two stills for this occasion that reveal their interest in material simulations and surface textures in virtual space. Kristina Berning translates her material layers into colourful objects that can be experienced haptically.

The works of Anne Duk Hee Jordan, who recently showed the conclusion of her Ziggy trilogy with films, drawings, sculptures and the social food sculpture Into the Wild in Arnsberg, address ecological and evolutionary issues. Hannah Sophie Dunkelberg presents her coloured Leaves leaving (photo collage on paper, acrylic glass, epoxy) - sculptural-looking leaves that refer to the onset of winter, the seasonal cycle. Reiner Maria Matysik has been creating sculptural models of post-evolutionary species since the mid-1990s - before the popularity of synthetic biology. His monochrome models here are 3D-printed and have an organic or mineral ‘companion’. An accompanying file allows the reproduction of this (unknown) creature. Similar to the fossilisation of a prehistoric animal in a natural history museum, the traces in the reliefs by Andreas Greiner & Alexandra Spiegel point to the former presence of Gertrude and Alexander - two microorganisms viewed through a microscope, cast in ceramic. Maximilian Prüfer's artistic approach is characterised by his antitype of nature, in which he draws traces of insects and molluscs on paper. For his latest project, A gift from him, he travelled to China to learn the art of pollinating flowers on a plantation that is no longer home to bees.

Malte Bartsch‘ Raketenbild ziert das Cover der Einladungskarte. Die sich vor dem dunklen Himmel abzeichnende Lichtspur schließt zugleich den Kreis meiner kuratorischen Tätigkeit, die mit Bartsch‘ Feuerwerksautomat auf dem Flyer für In Medias Res Anfang 2019 begann.

I would like to thank everyone involved for their great support on site. 

Ursula Ströbele