Hallen 07

Wilhelm Hallen
Kopenhagener Straße 60-68
13407 Berlin Reinickendorf

Opening hours:

Sat 05 Sep through Mo 07 Sep: 11am-8pm

Tue 08 Sep: closed
Wed 09 Sep through Sun 13 Sep: 11am-8pm

For Hallen 07, Esther Schipper Berlin is delighted to present works by Ryan Gander. 

Ryan Ganger's Y gêm (My neotonic contribution to Modernism) takes as point of departure a 1918 abstract sculpture by the Belgian Modernist artist George Vantongerloo (b. 1886, Antwerp; d. 1965, Paris). Vantongerloo, who was greatly influenced by his encounter with the Dutch De Stijl movement, pursued his interest in geometrical relationships and algebraic formulas beginning in 1918. Another art historical reference are Pop artist Claes Oldenburg's "soft sculptures" from the early 1960s.

Ryan Gander short-circuits this development by first treating the older master's hard-edged sculpture with a computer program that enlarges the work and rounds angular shapes, before covering it in a thick layer of orange artificial fur balls, transforming the sculpture into a soft, fuzzy and inflated-looking form.

The work epitomizes Gander's interest in the legacy of modernism. In this context the artist has spoken of "soft modernism"—a merely stylistic championing of modernist aesthetics that dilutes its progressive potential. Posing the idea of a hard, abstract idea of modernist sculpture against the soft, fluffy, comic suppleness of the orange fur balls playfully addresses the artist's ongoing engagement with modernist ideas and their potential for alternative histories.

Alongside works from Gander's series Phantom Ambition will be on view. The entire project encompasses 50 posters. Each work contains the entire set of 50 existing posters glued onto one another leaving only the top one visible in full.  Visible slivers of paper in various colors from the underlying posters, give the works a sculptural quality.

Yet the work itself entails a much broader project: Each of the 50 posters in the series represents an exhibition Gander has conceived for us to imagine. He has selected artists or groups of artists, writers, designers, even athletes, conceived of a title, picked a venue and chosen a date and duration, some in the past, others in the future. He designed the poster marking this imaginary event as it might have been produced by that institution in the period.

Gander, whose work often constructs imaginary scenarios, suggesting for example hidden spaces or presenting works by fictional alter egos or inspired by his children's play, devised each Phantom Ambition exhibition with great precision: the dates may refer to a particular moment in an artist's career, the institution or venue particularly suitable or surprising. Posters include inspired curatorial connections and also shows by artists Gander admires and would have liked to see.

The idea of what any of these exhibitions would look like is unique to each viewer, depending on our knowledge of the listed names, their work, our past experiences with their work, and whether we have visited the listed institutions or even the towns or countries where they are located. The only added clue we are given are the posters' designs which Gander has produced in a kind of ventriloquy, channeling an institutions corporate identity as it might have appeared or will be developed at a specific moment in time.

Another aspect of this project is the exploration of contemporary art practice: names that become representations of an oeuvre, shorthand for an “artistic position.” The brilliant, surprising and at times provocative combinations can then also be seen as a commentary on an economy in which attention is the currency. Yet, while some of the imaginary exhibitions may include facetious pairings, Gander's approach is not cynical but rooted in his enthusiasm for and belief in the power of art—and of the imagination.

If you wish to receive a preview dossier, or should you have any questions about our presentation at Hallen 07 please contact us at sales@estherschipper.com or +49 (0) 162 1780 725