Melanie Bonajo
Single Mother Songs from the End of Nature
01 Jun - 27 Aug 2017
MELANIE BONAJO
Single Mother Songs from the End of Nature
1 June — 27 August 2017
Frankfurter Kunstverein presents the first great institutional solo exhibition of Dutch artist Melanie Bonajo (b. 1978) in Germany. The artist is shortlisted for the Dutch Prix de Rome 2017, the most generous prize for Visual Arts in the Netherlands.
Melanie Bonajo’s artistic practice is shaped by her critical stance towards the state of our world. Her works are created in the light of an explicitly critical attitude towards capitalism and an ambivalent view of the modern euphoria about progress. In her works the artist seeks to find alternative worldviews and ways of peaceful resistance within a world shaken by crises. With an political and activist approach, Bonajo focus-es on urgent and persistent social issues of our time, like the dualism of human and nature, rapidly fading resources and the ramifications of climate change. Her videos, performances, photographs and installations constitute the result of longstanding processes. By means of close observation, collecting and categorising, she investi-gates the existential questions of humanity. Her reflection leads to powerful aesthetic works, which enable the viewer to explore and experience the issues of our times in sensual sceneries.
The exhibition at Frankfurter Kunstverein presents three of the artist’s distinct work groups, centering around the experimental, semi-fictional documentary trilogy Night Soil (2014-2016). For the presentation of her works, Bonajo allows the filmic space to protrude into the reality of the exhibition space and creates colourful, spatial installations. The artist constructs psychedelic worlds, which invite the visitors to immerse into a contemplative space of experience.
The exhibition design is realised in cooperation with Théo Demans. The exhibition design for „Night Soil“ is a cooperation of Théo Demans and Clemence Seilles. The exhibition is curated by Franziska Nori, director of Frankfurter Kunstverein.
Single Mother Songs from the End of Nature
1 June — 27 August 2017
Frankfurter Kunstverein presents the first great institutional solo exhibition of Dutch artist Melanie Bonajo (b. 1978) in Germany. The artist is shortlisted for the Dutch Prix de Rome 2017, the most generous prize for Visual Arts in the Netherlands.
Melanie Bonajo’s artistic practice is shaped by her critical stance towards the state of our world. Her works are created in the light of an explicitly critical attitude towards capitalism and an ambivalent view of the modern euphoria about progress. In her works the artist seeks to find alternative worldviews and ways of peaceful resistance within a world shaken by crises. With an political and activist approach, Bonajo focus-es on urgent and persistent social issues of our time, like the dualism of human and nature, rapidly fading resources and the ramifications of climate change. Her videos, performances, photographs and installations constitute the result of longstanding processes. By means of close observation, collecting and categorising, she investi-gates the existential questions of humanity. Her reflection leads to powerful aesthetic works, which enable the viewer to explore and experience the issues of our times in sensual sceneries.
The exhibition at Frankfurter Kunstverein presents three of the artist’s distinct work groups, centering around the experimental, semi-fictional documentary trilogy Night Soil (2014-2016). For the presentation of her works, Bonajo allows the filmic space to protrude into the reality of the exhibition space and creates colourful, spatial installations. The artist constructs psychedelic worlds, which invite the visitors to immerse into a contemplative space of experience.
The exhibition design is realised in cooperation with Théo Demans. The exhibition design for „Night Soil“ is a cooperation of Théo Demans and Clemence Seilles. The exhibition is curated by Franziska Nori, director of Frankfurter Kunstverein.