NEW FRANKFURT INTERNATIONALS: SOLID SIGNS

“New Frankfurt Internationals” is a special exhibition project initiated in 2010 by Frankfurter Kunstverein as a recurrent format. The idea behind it is to focus on the major artistic potential innate in the region and to present artists who have lived and/or have studied in Frankfurt and the Rhine/Main region and who are in part already counted among the “new internationals” in the art world.

Focusing on art from Frankfurt and the region

The 2nd edition of “New Frankfurt Internationals” is organized by Frankfurter Kunstverein (FKV) and Nassauischer Kunstverein Wiesbaden (NKV) thus expanding the presentation out from the city of Frankfurt into the region. Entitled “Solid Signs”, paintings, sculptures, photographs, drawings, videos, installations and performances by 41 artists and artist groups will be on show at both venues. An array of works has been produced specially for the exhibition.

Solid Signs: Revisiting materials and artistic techniques

“New Frankfurt Internationals: Solid Signs” addresses the interest many artists have for some time now been showing in the physical presence artworks possess and in revitalizing traditional artistic techniques and materials. In particular, a younger generation of artists is increasingly focusing on pictorial means and the different forms of expression intrinsic to them. For these artists, the material properties have the same status as an artwork’s execution, presentation or substance.

The artwork’s presence as a counter to de-materialization

The emphasis on the physical presence of objects and things in art would appear to be a conscious attempt to counter the prevailing trend in the age of digitalization. And this new current is the main theme driving “New Frankfurt Internationals: Solid Signs”. The artists in the show photograph their surroundings using analog cameras, print the pictures on paper themselves, or link photochemistry and development processes with unusual materials and situations. Large-format landscape portraits are made in nature using paper and pencil, in this way referencing a manufacturing process that has been deliberately slowed down. Indeed, Super 8 cameras come back into their own to create atmospheric images rather than technically perfect shots. Simple basic materials such as wood, plaster, card and ink are rediscovered as the primary materials for sculptures and images. The artists involved also make use of new materials and procedures, but examine these closely to identify the aesthetic and physical qualities they offer.