Modern & Contemporary Art Exhibitions in Wolfsburg

own emotions. Political and social tensions are plunging people into a collective state of nervousness and vulnerability. On the threshold between delusion and reality, between the self and the external world, the exhibition On Nervous Grounds explores the moment when ambivalent emotions arise. According to the sociologist Eva Illouz, most emotions are a dialogue we conduct with the world. But how can such a dialogue be consciously initiated, and how can an emotional state be made visible? The artist Ariel Reichman engages intensively with human vulnerability and, through his interactive light installation I AM (NOT) SAFE, has found a way to give expression to individual experience. The light of the shifting neon lettering points to the fact that emotions are always fleeting and unstable. The artists Heinkuhn Oh and Sylvain Couzinet-Jacques remind us that emotions are mostly social in nature. They generally relate to other people or to one’s own self and manifest with particular intensity during times of existential change. The two artists offer insight into the emotional state of a young generation that feels isolated and disconnected in the

Infos In a world at a tipping point, where the desire for destruction and the destructive is once again being celebrated quite openly, reality seems to be increasingly perceived through the filter of one’s own emotions. Political and social tensions are plunging people into a collective state of nervousness and vulnerability. On the threshold between delusion and reality, between the self and the external world, the exhibition On Nervous Grounds explores the moment when ambivalent emotions arise. According to the sociologist Eva Illouz, most emotions are a dialogue we conduct with the world. But how can such a dialogue be consciously initiated, and how can an emotional state be made visible? The artist Ariel Reichman engages intensively with human vulnerability and, through his interactive light installation I AM (NOT) SAFE, has found a way to give expression to individual experience. The light of the shifting neon lettering points to the fact that emotions are always fleeting and unstable. The artists Heinkuhn Oh and Sylvain Couzinet-Jacques remind us that emotions are mostly social in nature. They generally relate to other people or to one’s own self and manifest with particular intensity during times of existential change. The two artists offer insight into the emotional state of a young generation that feels isolated and disconnected in the face of societal militarization or a perceived lack of prospects. Their works make us compassionate by evoking empathy. Not only real situations, but also fictional or imagined ones can trigger intense emotions. The photographically staged realities of Cindy Sherman and Jeff Wall are composed in such a way that the unease of the depicted scenes is transferred to the viewers: The stylized moments, reminiscent of familiar film scenes, create an inner restlessness. The installations by Rebecca Horn and Mithu Sen leave even more room for the viewer’s own imagination. Far removed from our usual horizon of experience, they appear particularly excessive, theatrical, and, at the same time, sensually poetic. In this way, they generate a strong emotional tension and simultaneously make ambivalent emotions tangible. However, emotions are not merely an expression of vulnerability; they are also a way of dealing with it. Through radical and often ecstatic actions, artists such as Christian Falsnaes and Gilbert & George not only create unsettling situations but also expose themselves to unfamiliar experiences within their performances and consciously make themselves vulnerable. Half a century ago, Jürgen Klauke already challenged this vulnerability by transcending gender categories and traditional notions in his art. Without interpreting reality, On Nervous Grounds uses art from the 1970s to the present to explore the sensibilities of our highly emotionalized present and the place where emotions arise. Curator Elena Engelbrechter Curatorial Assistant Linus Jantzen