Andreas Zybach: Flötefarbevaseschweinschlüsselkopie
May 7 – July 3, 2011
The Bonner Kunstverein is pleased to announce flutecolorvasepigkeycopy, the first solo exhibition of Andreas Zybach in a German Kunstverein (art society). The work of this Swiss artist is rooted in processes such as transformation, growth or disintegration. Over the course of the exhibition, his works repeatedly alter their state and hence their appearance. Sometimes they become invisible, other times they grow as far as the boundary of the room or they decompose. Machines that the artist has invented and programmed generate these processes and operate autonomously in the exhibition. His kinetic installations have an ephemeral character that brings the ponderous machinery together with the instability of the materials. For the Bonner Kunstverein, Andreas Zybach has designed new works that, with a certain self-irony, attempt to resemble natural objects. Trees in pastel colors that, instead of leaves, bear balloons which are slowly blown up by valve systems until they explode. This metal forest unites contrasts such as the observation of nature with a sense of artificiality. Other objects are scattered around the floor. Based on an antique clay vase from Greece in the form of a pig, small plaster copies are used for tooting on or drawing with. The viewers are given the opportunity to determine how to use the material. These hybrid forms are illusionist art and are quite in line with the tradition of art in imitation of nature. Zybach, in his exhibition, links the traditional juxtaposition of nature and culture with social issues. When plants originate in laboratories and companies have their carbon footprint calculated, the concept of nature is misused for new commercial purposes. Environmentally pollutive companies use the protection of natural environments as a communication strategy to polish their image. Nature as a lab result and art as a mechanically generated form intertwine in the show. Zybach approaches this volatile theme by developing a metaphorical discourse, one that calls in question the relations to nature in an era of their technical reproducibility and profitability. Andreas Zybach was born 1975 in Olten, Switzerland, and lives and works between Berlin and Switzerland. This year he was awarded the renowned Ars Viva Art Prize. His installations have been seen in galleries and museums in Seattle, Basel, Liverpool, Berlin, Tbilisi, among others. In addition the artist has also carried out several outdoor projects in Munich. In the coming months his works will be on view at Platform Garanti Contemporary Art Center in Istanbul, at Kunstmuseum Stuttgart within the framework of the Ars Viva Art Prize and in a group exhibition at Kunstverein Hannover.