Kunstverein Langenhagen

How can one, as an artist, resist while continuing to produce work? How can one work within an art world that they despise, but in which they nonetheless function? Central to Stefano Calligaro’s practice, from the start of an idea or gesture to its physical outcome, are the questions of WHY and WHAT one produces as an artist. For Calligaro, answers lie in absurdity and in his rejection of a certain virtuosity. The so-called products that come from Calligaro’s hands are the result of ‘quick thoughts coming from other quick thoughts transferred quickly on various surfaces.’ By doing so, he circumvents the all too finished, polished product. The entire project presented at Kunstverein Langenhagen, which also includes a publication consisting of e-mail correspondence on the above-mentioned topics between Caligaro and artists Kurt Ryslavy and QS Serafijn, evokes the dynamic between so-called artistic freedom and power relations that is constantly at stake.