Tobias Putrih: When Language Goes on Holiday

Meulensteen is pleased to announce When Language Goes on Holiday, an exhibition of new work by Tobias Putrih. Rooted in the ideals of high modernism, Putrih's intricate structures conjure notions of the sublime but infuse them with a gentle humor. When Language Goes on Holiday includes two large installations by the artist, Apartment and Patio(Solaris), both of which combine simple modular elements to create organic, quasi-functional spaces. For Apartment, Putrih has designed a new system of black aluminum panels that connect to one another according to a basic hexagonal grid. The panels are arranged to form walls, partitions, ceiling sections, furniture elements, and abstract objects. This open-ended system allows for disassembly and reconfiguration, enabling Putrih to fill the gallery in a non-hierarchical manner. Patio(Solaris), makes use of a system of cardboard tubes and curved plywood connectors that the artist originally devised for a previous work, Solaris (2009). In their current configuration the components form four distinct sculptural objects.

Tobias Putrih was born in 1972 in Kranj, Slovenia. His work is collected by many leading international institutions including the Museum of Modern Art, New York; the Musée d’ Art Moderne Grand-Duc Jean, Luxembourg; Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen, Rotterdam; Moderna Galerija Ljubljana, Slovenia; and the Queensland Art Gallery, Australia. In 2007 Putrih represented his home country in the Venice Bienale. The same year the Neuberger Museum of Art mounted a survey exhibition covering the first decade of his work. Other major exhibitions include Psycho Buildings at the Hayward Gallery, Greater New York at PS1, the Galleria Civica Modena (a collaboration with Bangladeshi artist Runa Islam), and Manifesta 2002. Recently completed projects include architectural installations designed for the Centre Pompidou and the 2010 São Paulo Biennial. His forthcoming projects include an architectural commission for a community center in Aroyo, Uganda, which will be executed in collaboration with MOS Architects, Buro Happold, and Shelter Wakadogo.