ANNUAL EDITIONS 2023/24

This year, the 2023/24 annual editions are dedicated to the traces we leave behind. In the spirit of Jean-Paul Sartre, who described traces as a manifestation of our existence, works of art can also be categorised as such. As essences of the personality of the artists who created them, interwoven with their ideals, aggressions, joy, suffering, etc. , or as a distillate of our society, which is then debated in the exhibition space. The facets of human existence are the starting point of this small show.

The annual editions selected this year are not only intended to encourage reflection, but are also to be understood as traces of human presence. Following Tolia Astakhishvili's first institutional solo exhibition in Germany and the BAUKUNST exhibition with the architect duo BRUTHER, the Kunstverein Bielefeld's exhibition programme was recently dedicated to the themes of loss, mourning and moments of transition. The core of the exhibition Der Pinkelende Tod or What the Dead Do was to give the deceased close to us a place in our lives and to pay tribute to the traces they left behind. For this reason, we are delighted that two of the artists shown in the exhibition Der pinkelnde Tod or what the dead do are now also represented in our selection of annual editions 2023/24. These are Rosa Joly and Sebastian Wiegand. We are also presenting an annual edition by US artist Analisa Teachworth. Her first institutional solo exhibition in Germany will be shown parallel to the Jahresgaben 2023/24 on the ground floor of the Kunstverein. And finally, positions that have not yet appeared in the context of the Kunstverein Bielefeld will also be presented. We are looking forward to the works of Anaïs Goupy, Maximilian Kirmse, Simon Mielke, Luise von Rohden, Russell Perkins, Ronny Szillo and Stefan Vogel.

Together, these ten positions paint a heterogeneous picture of young international art whose creative practices, materials used and techniques developed are exemplary for a young generation of up-and-coming artists. They bring together the traces that we leave with our existence and produce traces that we can follow.