Dirk Fleischmann
Limuranin, Kaesong and Rosario
04 Sep - 01 Nov 2010
Three geographical places form the basis of Dirk Fleischmann’s (*1974 in Schweinfurt) first institutional solo exhibition: Limuranin, Kaesong and Rosario. The Philippines and North Korea are the locations for the most recent projects Fleischmann is presenting in the Bielefelder Kunstverein. The results of his reforestation project, »myforestfarm«, as well as the shirt-production in »Made in North Korea«, a project arising from his fashion label, »myfashionindustries«, are being presented via various media and in various works on the Kunstverein’s upper floor.
Dirk Fleischmann is not only an artist but also a businessman. Since 1998, he has founded and run, among other things, a kiosk, a chicken farm, a trailer rental company and a solar power-station – businesses which have all financed themselves or each other. His projects concern the artistic transformation and making visible of economic processes in society and the conditions of a global market – and eco-economy. Many of his works last over long periods or are set up as »work-in-progress«. Dirk Fleischmann is interested in the patterns of functioning and conditions in a world marked by the flows of finance, which is subject to commercial as well as political imperatives and distinguishes itself through an increased consumption of media and energy. The conventions and the effects on society resulting from that circumstance form the foundations of Fleischmann’s work, which attempts to research these phenomena, to map them, depict them and translate them into an artistic manifestation. In this process, questions as to the significance of images as well as the self-identity and the role of the artist as an employer and as part of a global production of art and images always stand at the centre of his artistic engagement as well.
Dirk Fleischmann lives and works in Frankfurt am Main as well as in Seoul, Korea. Until 2002, he was a student at the Academy of the Plastic Arts, the Städelschule in Frankfurt am Main, and graduated under Prof. Ayse Erkmen. He has already received numerous distinctions and scholarships. Fleischmann took part in the Manifesta 4 (2002, Frankfurt) and has already exhibited in numerous institutions in Germany and abroad, among them, the Musée d'art contemporain de Lyon (2004), the Busan Museum of Art (2005, Korea), the alternative space pool (2007, Seoul) or the Leeum Samsung Museum of Art (2010, Seoul). He has been a Visiting Professor at Hansung University in Seoul since 2009.
The publisher Specter Press (Seoul) will publish a first monograph in the form of an artist’s edition for the exhibition and in the context of the project, »Made in North Korea«. Each copy contains a shirt designed and produced by the artist.
Dirk Fleischmann is not only an artist but also a businessman. Since 1998, he has founded and run, among other things, a kiosk, a chicken farm, a trailer rental company and a solar power-station – businesses which have all financed themselves or each other. His projects concern the artistic transformation and making visible of economic processes in society and the conditions of a global market – and eco-economy. Many of his works last over long periods or are set up as »work-in-progress«. Dirk Fleischmann is interested in the patterns of functioning and conditions in a world marked by the flows of finance, which is subject to commercial as well as political imperatives and distinguishes itself through an increased consumption of media and energy. The conventions and the effects on society resulting from that circumstance form the foundations of Fleischmann’s work, which attempts to research these phenomena, to map them, depict them and translate them into an artistic manifestation. In this process, questions as to the significance of images as well as the self-identity and the role of the artist as an employer and as part of a global production of art and images always stand at the centre of his artistic engagement as well.
Dirk Fleischmann lives and works in Frankfurt am Main as well as in Seoul, Korea. Until 2002, he was a student at the Academy of the Plastic Arts, the Städelschule in Frankfurt am Main, and graduated under Prof. Ayse Erkmen. He has already received numerous distinctions and scholarships. Fleischmann took part in the Manifesta 4 (2002, Frankfurt) and has already exhibited in numerous institutions in Germany and abroad, among them, the Musée d'art contemporain de Lyon (2004), the Busan Museum of Art (2005, Korea), the alternative space pool (2007, Seoul) or the Leeum Samsung Museum of Art (2010, Seoul). He has been a Visiting Professor at Hansung University in Seoul since 2009.
The publisher Specter Press (Seoul) will publish a first monograph in the form of an artist’s edition for the exhibition and in the context of the project, »Made in North Korea«. Each copy contains a shirt designed and produced by the artist.