Atlas ohne Vermerk

MAY 08 – JULY 18, 2010

OPENING: FRIDAY, MAY 07, 2010, 7 PM

In the context of his first institutional solo exhibition, Benedikt Hipp (*1977 in Munich) is showing new figurative paintings together with abstracts and works on paper at the Bielefelder Kunstverein. For the first time, the artist is also exhibiting space-consuming sculptures and large-format tableau paintings, which are embedded in scenarios related to their locale.

Benedikt Hipp’s works speak of a simultaneous presence and absence, as is inherent in dreams or moments of contemplation. The spaces in his pictures are enlivened by contradictions. They move in the force-field of objective versus non-objective form, fullness and emptiness, figuration and abstraction. In the first instance, Hipp’s artistic work can be understood as engaging with the tradition of painting, of the possibilities of the painted picture and of its current significance. What we discover in the paintings, ink drawings and sketches seems comprehensible but also has a disturbing effect. On second glance, it becomes clear that these elements of his pictures distance themselves from reality through this sort of structuring. Set in light and context against a dark background, motifs come across as removed from the real world. Hipp’s pictures quote ornaments, but without diffusing their narrative potential in pure decoration. In doing this, he generates an ambivalent feeling of simultaneous familiarity and emptiness. Common to his works is their trait of engaging with the origins of artworks in cultic rituals. And that also includes re-engaging with research into objects and their auras. Hipp takes on nothing less than investigating the essence of the world and, with that, investigating what defies representation. Despite the odd ironic interjection, art traditionally understands itself as a cultic object and as a possibility of transcending the here and now. Artists build imaginary stages, which are extended in the exhibition space and draw viewers into the pictorial space as the counterpoint to their staging. What is actually going on is to be found, however, outside this space.

Benedikt Hipp lives and works in Munich. He studied painting at the Nürnberg Academy of the Plastic Arts and in Bologna, as well as at the Academy of the Plastic Arts in Munich. In 2007 he completed his studies under Prof. Sean Scully. Hipp has already received numerous scholarships and prizes for his work. Last year, he figured in solo exhibitions in the collection of the German Federal Bank in Frankfurt am Main, the Schürmann collection in Berlin and with an Art Statement from the Galerie Iris Kadel at Art Basel. In addition, his works were exhibited in the group exhibitions, »ölmachtgeld« (Kunstarkaden, Munich, 2008), »Legend« (Departmental Domain Chamarande, France, 2008) and »Do you have expectations?« (wartesaal, Zurich, 2008).