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«Contrology» at Kunstraum Riehen

Group Show, May 22 until July 18, 2021

Artists

Dudu Quintanilha, Elise Corpataux, Emir Šehanović, Giulia Essyad, Ivan Mitrovic, Jana Sterbak, Marianne Vlaschits, Martina Mächler, Roee Rosen, Sofía Durrieu

Institution

Kunstraum Riehen

Locations

Basel, Riehen

Download

Press release (PDF)

Website

kunstraumriehen.ch

Exhibition View Group Show «Contrology; view on Giulia Essyad, Na'vi Study, 2021, Digital print on tarp, construction fence, 350 x 200 x 50 cm» at Kunst Raum Riehen, 2021 / Photo: Gina Folly / Courtesy: the artist and Kunstraum Riehen

Exhibition Title: "«Contrology» at Kunstraum Riehen"

The group exhibition CONTROLOGY at Kunst Raum Riehen presents the works of eleven contemporary artists that negotiate diverse practices, forms, and narratives of control. The title of the exhibition refers to the original term of an efficient set of rules for muscle control for internees during WWI, developed by physical trainer Joseph H. Pilates.

While his set of rules was purely body-related, today’s questions about the “proper” posture exceed just physical faculties. In a world experienced as both over-controlled and uncontrollable, the individual body as well as the individual mind are often claimed as last places of refuge and self-determination.

At the same time, the imperatives to control are always already registered into ideological structures and accompanied by specifically designed products and meticulously constructed self-optimizing strategies: Personal characteristics and abilities must be improved to the best possible personal condition with the help of self-awareness (mindfulness training, meditation), self-tracking (pedometers, heart rate monitors, sleep-apps), rational self-control and permanent feedback.

Remarkably, these methods to increase production, performance, and efficiency not seldomly appear in close relation with pseudoscientific, metaphysical, or occult teachings and practices of self-knowledge. The group exhibition CONTROLOGY addresses this dilemma and maps a field of practices and theories of control on the way to (controlled) happiness by presenting artistic positions that investigate in phenomena between fetishized individuality, romanticized escapism, capitalist spirituality, and political cultism.

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Exhibition View Group Show «Contrology; view on Marianne Vlaschits, Installation with wall drawing (2021) and four paintings» at Kunst Raum Riehen, 2021 / Photo: Gina Folly / Courtesy: the artist and Kunstraum Riehen

Exhibition View Group Show «Contrology» at Kunst Raum Riehen, 2021 / Photo: Gina Folly / Courtesy: the artists and Kunstraum Riehen

Exhibition View Group Show «Contrology; view on Ivan Mitrovic, Gaze (4–6), 2021, Oil on canvas, 10 x 15 cm» at Kunst Raum Riehen, 2021 / Photo: Gina Folly / Courtesy: the artists and Kunstraum Riehen

Exhibition View Group Show «Contrology; view on Martina Mächler, 71 % (play), 2018, Four loudspeakers with audio loop, tripods, carpet, cushions, Dimensions variable» at Kunst Raum Riehen, 2021 / Photo: Gina Folly / Courtesy: the artists and Kunstraum Riehen

Exhibition View Group Show «Contrology» at Kunst Raum Riehen, 2021 / Photo: Gina Folly / Courtesy: the artists and Kunstraum Riehen

Exhibition View Group Show «Contrology; view on Giulia Essyad, Blueberry Study, 2021» at Kunst Raum Riehen, 2021 / Photo: Gina Folly / Courtesy: the artist and Kunstraum Riehen

Exhibition View Group Show «Contrology; view on Ivan Mitrovic, Compromise, 2021, Cut-up bottle crates, Rivella bottles, Dimensions variable» at Kunst Raum Riehen, 2021 / Photo: Gina Folly / Courtesy: the artists and Kunstraum Riehen

Exhibition View Group Show «Contrology» at Kunst Raum Riehen, 2021 / Photo: Gina Folly / Courtesy: the artists and Kunstraum Riehen

Exhibition View Group Show «Contrology; view on Emir Šehanović, Waiting for the New World, Elastic polyurethane fabric, fiberglass tubes, polypropylene tubes, fabric, ribbons, 252 x 100 cm» at Kunst Raum Riehen, 2021 / Photo: Gina Folly / Courtesy: the artists and Galerie Eugster, Belgrade

Exhibition View Group Show «Contrology» at Kunst Raum Riehen, 2021 / Photo: Gina Folly / Courtesy: the artists and Kunstraum Riehen

Exhibition View Group Show «Contrology; view on Elise Corpataux, Untitled (From: ALL YOU HAVE IS NOW), 2020, Acrylic on canvas, 23 x 30 cm» at Kunst Raum Riehen, 2021 / Photo: Gina Folly / Courtesy: the artists and Kunstraum Riehen

Exhibition View Group Show «Contrology» at Kunst Raum Riehen, 2021 / Photo: Gina Folly / Courtesy: the artists and Kunstraum Riehen

Exhibition View Group Show «Contrology; view on Elise Corpataux, Untitled (From: ALL YOU HAVE IS NOW), 2021, Acrylic on canvas, 23 x 30 cm» at Kunst Raum Riehen, 2021 / Photo: Gina Folly / Courtesy: the artists and Kunstraum Riehen

Exhibition View Group Show «Contrology; view on Dudu Quintanilha, Punk and Paleolithic, 2018, 4K video, 15 minutes» at Kunst Raum Riehen, 2021 / Photo: Gina Folly / Courtesy: the artists and Kunstraum Riehen

Exhibition View Group Show «Contrology» at Kunst Raum Riehen, 2021 / Photo: Gina Folly / Courtesy: the artists and Kunstraum Riehen

Exhibition View Group Show «Contrology; view on Sofia Durrieu, Magendmund, 2019, Magenmund, 2019, Performative installation/situation in eight steps, Whiskey, Glasses, Incense sticks, Metal, Latex, Nails, Paper, Instructions, Cotton cloths, Velvet, Satin, Clay, Vaseline, Dimensions variable» at Kunst Raum Riehen, 2021 / Photo: Gina Folly / Courtesy: the artists and Kunstraum Riehen