HANNOVER.- The Kestner Gesellschaft is presenting an exhibition by the Berlin-based artist Nevin Aladağ (*1972 in Van, Turkey) entitled Best Friends in the Claussen-Halle. In her work Aladağ deals with current social questions about the self-determination of identity and the hybridization of cultural spaces. At documenta 14 her work was presented to a broad audience. The exhibition at the Kestner Gesellschaft is an experimental format: in a single room the show will take place over two periods. In the first part of the exhibition, which will open in late August 2018, the themes of friendship, neighborhood, and social coexistence will be dealt with based on the photo series Best Friends (2012–2015) and the video work Hochparterre [Mezzanine] (2009/2010). In the second part, which will start in December 2018, the exhibition will change with the addition of new works.
Nevin Aladağ’s films, photographs, installations, sculptures, and performances often take place in public spaces in which the tension between community and individuality, and between belonging and alienation becomes particularly clear.
Best Friends shows bonds expressed through appearance, body language, and clothing style. Friendship results in imitation and assimilation, whether consciously or unconsciously, and makes the subjects of the series become one. For this series, Aladağ conducted field research in the streets of Los Angeles, Dortmund, and Berlin. Thus, the photos can also be understood as portraits of the cities. For the first time, the artist is showing the photos on large-scale banners, which make the images of the friendships physically palpable for viewers.
For the video Hochparterre [Mezzanine], Aladağ conducted numerous interviews with residents of a street in Hamburg-Altona. She asked people questions about living together in their diverse neighborhood and their opinion on developments in the city. Individual passages of the sound recordings were combined into a sound collage. In the video, the different voices are reproduced by a single actor in sync with the speakers. The discrepancy between what we hear and the visual impression of their facial expressions and gestures challenges the criteria for how we attribute identities. The video is part of a three-part series that also focuses on the capitals of Berlin and Vienna.
The architectural quality of the Claussen-Halle as an atrium open on all sides reflects the idea of open or public space. The experimental exhibition format offers an opportunity for an in-depth exchange on the socially relevant themes in Aladağ’s works and will be accompanied by an extensive program of events.
Nevin Aladağ was born in 1972 in Van, Turkey. She studied sculpture from 1993 to 2000 under Olaf Metzel at the Academy of Fine Arts in Munich. Aladağ has lived and worked in Berlin since 2002. In 2018 the artist won the Ernst Rietschel Art Prize for sculpture. She has participated in documenta 14 in Athens and Kassel (2017), the 57th Venice Biennale (2017), the Sharjah Biennial (2013), and the 11th Istanbul Biennial (2009), among others.
Her works have been shown around the world in numerous solo and group exhibitions at venues including the Kunsthalle Hamburg (2016/17); Kunstmuseum Linz (2016/17); Kunstmuseum Wolfsburg (2016); Marta Herford (2016); Kunsthalle Basel (2014/15); Schirn Kunsthalle Frankfurt (2014); Mathildenhöhe, Darmstadt (2012); Haus der Kunst, Munich (2011); Museum of Contemporary Art Tokyo (2011); Hayward Gallery, London (2010); Kunsthaus Zürich (2008); and Museo Tamayo, Mexico City (2006).
Works by Nevin Aladağ are represented in international collections, including the Pinakothek der Moderne, Munich; Kunstmuseum Stuttgart, Neue Nationalgalerie, Berlin; the Federal Republic of Germany's Contemporary Art Collection, Bonn; Museum Tinguely, Basel; Centre Pompidou, Paris; Thyssen-Bornemisza Art Contemporary, Vienna; and K11 Art Foundation, Shanghai and Hong Kong.
