About the Exhibition
The Städel Museum once again presented the graduate show of the Hochschule für Bildende Künste–Städelschule. Under the title “Overture”, works in various media and disciplines—including installation, sculpture, painting, film, and performance—were on view by a total of 30 graduates.
The exhibition offered insights into the recent developments in contemporary art and reflected a broad spectrum of artistic practices and discourses. The artists were Mariia Andreeva, Charlotte Berg, Linus Berg, Sam Cottington, Arnaud Ferron, Samuel Georgy, Tomás Loureiro Gonçalo, Anima Goyal, Giulia Guidi, Aerin Hong, Gašper Kunšič, Gregor Lau, raúl itamar lima, Salome Lübke, Fuki Matsumoto, Rosa Nitzsche, Vincenzo Ottino, Deshaun Price, Emmilou Roessling, Killa Schuetze, Juri Simoncini & Elisa Diaferia, Elsa Stanyer, Nicholas Stewens, Mahmoud Tarek, Siyu Tian, Vera Varlamova, Xtina Vargas, Punch Viratmalee and Ming Yuan.
The works offered diverse insights into contemporary artistic discourses. At the same time, they engaged with timeless themes that are rooted in the artists’ personal realities and contemporary experience: the politics and aesthetics of everyday life; the relentless circulation of images; the fluidity of identity; affects such as desire, vulnerability, and longing; the inscriptions of history and time; the limits of language and communication; the artificiality of our relationship with nature; and the conditions of production—including in relation to one’s own artistic position. As varied as these themes were, so too were the artistic practices: film, video, and sound-based works encountered installation, sculpture, painting, and collage, as well as conceptual and performative interventions.
Curator
Johanna Laub, Hochschule für Bildende Künste–Städelschule
Project Managers
Katja Hilbig and Ela Dutta, Städel Museum
Städelschule
The Städelschule is considered one of the most internationally renowned institutions for Fine Arts and stands for an interdisciplinary education that combines practice and research. Over the course of several years, students learn and work within a class system that emphasizes individual development and independent studio practice. The graduate show marks both a formal and artistic highlight of the program at the Städelschule. The graduates studied in the classes of Monika Baer, Gerard Byrne, Judith Hopf, Hassan Khan, Tobias Rehberger, Willem de Rooij, and Haegue Yang.
View of the Städelschule, photo: Jörg Hempel
Sponsors & Patrons
“Overture” was made possible by the generous support of Städelschule by the Hessian Ministry of Science and Research, Art and Culture, Allen Overy Shearman Sterling LLP and the Ernst Max von Grunelius-Stiftung.
The Städelschule thanks the Städelschule Portikus e.V., the Stiftung Städelschule für junge Künstler, the Sammlung Pohl gGmbH, Plastische Chirurgie Frankfurt | Hochtaunus and the Heinz und Gisela Friederichs Stiftung for the donation of graduate prizes and stipends.
