GAK Gesellschaft für Aktuelle Kunst

The artistic work of Nina Hoffmann revolves around human desire. What do we desire and why? Do the objects of our desire exist in factual reality? Or do we tend to pursue mere ideas and projections? Where do the borders between reality and projection/ideal lie? How are they defined? Is it possible to render them visible? These are some of the questions investigated by Nina Hoffmann. Hoffmann is interested in the narratives of everyday life which are common to us all: our daily routines, our aspirations, the factors that shape our perceptions, the courses of action that we pursue to fulfill our desires...

For her first institutional solo show Ich brauche wenig Wirklichkeit (I rarely need reality, sourced from an interview with Heinrich Böll) Hoffmann stages different aspects of desire in the GAK Gesellschaft für Aktuelle Kunst, and plays through various “narrations of love” (Nina Hoffmann). Approaching love as a defining element of everyday life – indeed a Leitmotif of human existence – the exhibition explores the expectations and ideals with which we fetter love, the disappointments with which it presents us, and the clichés of advertising, film and the boulevard press which weigh so heavy upon it. Working across the mediums of text and photography, film and installation, ready-made and slide projection, the exhibition has been carefully adapted to the GAK's space.

Nina Hoffmann's oeuvre oscillates between the twin poles of scenic composition and the incidental, autobiography and universality. The works take their cue from the unfulfilled desires of the artists herself, from friends and family members. But this private dimension is not deployed as a means to represent her sensitivities; instead it is used to demonstrate our common practices, desires, experiences and knowledge. Hoffmann offsets this intimate note with images that are rooted in our collective consciousness – from Hollywood clichés to holiday landscapes and the departure for new shores. Ich brauche wenig Wirklichkeit is defined ultimately by its atmosphere, which treats the exhibition's architectural setting and lighting conditions as materials in their own right, and is sustained by a singular blend of melancholy, ruthlessness, humor and tenderness.

An extensive program of events will accompany the exhibition.