Stefan Burger 2009

PAST EXHIBITIONS ||| Philip Wiegard | if on a winter's night a traveler | Linda Herzog | The John Institute | Discoteca Flaming Star | Nuri Koerfer/Sandi Kozjek | Dani Gal | Stefan Burger | Chronicles of the Superego | Loredana Sperini | Karin Suter | L'Éducation sentimentale | Elodie Pong | Tanja Roscic / Christodoulos Panayiotou | Philip Wiegard | Discoteca Flaming Star | Megan Sullivan

Stefan Burger: 29 October - 24 December 2009

Pressetext (DE)
presstext (EN)
selected press material
critics pick on Artforum.com by Quinn Latimer

exhibition view Stefan Burger, 2009

Besser arm dran als arm ab
2009
Inkjetprint, anodizised aluminium, text, framed
Dimensions H 58 x B 36 x T 7 cm
( h 22,8 x w 14,2 x d 2,8 inches )
BURG_001301

The work "Besser arm dran als Arm ab", 2009 (a hackneyed German play on words meaning “better to be poor than to miss an arm”), is a double-sided frame protruding from the wall, in which a print shows front and back of a worn, voodoo-like doll.
On one side, in lieu of an arm, the doll features a golden prosthesis attached to a zipper.
The photographed object is actually Stefan Burger’s colorfully mended wallet. Figuratively speaking, the anthropomorphic object seems to have suffered from the flow of capital straining its digestive tract and resulting in all kinds of injuries.
A pathological note comes into play when we consider the torn amputee as an artist’s wallet, which may well be interpreted as a representation of the poor (malnourished) artist. With the golden prosthesis and the title, such an assumption becomes the subject of irony rather than an affirmation of a banal cliché.

Würenlos
2009
Inkjet-print
Dimensions variable H 330 x B 450 cm ( h 129,9 x w 177,2 inches )
BURG_001304

Total-Liquidation
2009
Found object (aluminium glass, wood, fabric)
Dimensions H 94 x B 172 cm ( h 37 x w 67,7 inches )
BURG_001303

Untitled
2009
inkjet on paper, framed, mixed media
Dimensions variable H 350 x B 190 x T 150 cm
( h 137,8 x w 74,8 x d 59,1 inches )
BURG_001312

Untitled (detail )
2009
inkjet on paper, framed
Dimensions variable H 250 x B 140 cm ( h 98,4 x w 55,1 inches )
BURG_001305

Untitled (detail )
2009
inkjet on paper, framed
Dimensions variable H 120 x B 108 cm
( h 47,2 x w 42,5 inches )
BURG_001311

Brutvorrichtung für Kleingruppen im Kunstsystem
(Brooding device for small groups within the system of art)
2009
wood, bronze, cloth
Dimensions each H 106 x B 40 x T 41 cm ( h 41,7 x w 15,7 x d 16,1 inches )
BURG_001302.3

Brutvorrichtung für Kleingruppen im Kunstsystem
(Brooding device for small groups within the system of art)
2009
The chairs are to be used by the gallery staff until they are sold to a collector. The imprint of the gallerists’ behinds on the canvas pillows is anticipated. The pillows have an inner pocket, their zippers feature dangling avocados in cast bronze. As a consequence, the gallerist is literally sitting on his art or giving occasion to another play on words while brooding over his work, which is aided by the avocados that are intended as tactile stimulators inspiring to produce tangible results. The intended wearout of the materials gives the work an ambivalent touch. Its functional aspect has little to do with art, but its worn
surface can indicate to collectors both the duration of a rather unappealing form of perseverance and a patina that increases the value of the work.

Brutvorrichtung für Kleingruppen im Kunstsystem
(Brooding device for small groups within the system of art)
2009
detail

4'33'' (Dormicum I.V.)
2009
HD-Video
7min30, looped
BURG_001306

4'33'' (Dormicum I.V.)
2009
detail