studio: Luigi Ghirri - Giorgio Morandi - Koenraad Dedobbeleer

The Mai 36 Galerie is pleased to present the exhibition "studio", which puts works by Luigi Ghirri, Giorgio Morandi and sculptures by Koenraad Dedobbeleer into dialogue.

In 1990 Luigi Ghirri visited and documented the places where Giorgio Morandi had lived and worked: the two houses in Bologna where the painter lived with his mother and sisters and Grizzana where he spent the summer months. These photographs are shown together with two works by Giorgio Morandi in the Mai 36 Galerie. In direct response to this, the artist Koenraad Dedobbeleer created new sculptures that specifically take up the idea and theme and complement the exhibition in the sense of the overarching context of the studio (Italian; Latin: studium; zeal, work, effort).

Luigi Ghirri (1943-1992) began taking photographs as an autodidact in 1970 and is considered one of the most important photographers of the post-war period. His photographs show everyday life on the one hand, and architecture and landscape shots on the other. They convey the longing for a classical aesthetic, whereby all Ghirris have a special form of expression in common: the unbiased gaze, the incomparable light that corresponded to the mood of the day and reflected the Italian view of his own country and the world in general. Ghirri stylized, heightened and condensed these components in his depictions and often supposedly bleak scenarios to create an unmistakable image of his view.

Giorgio Morandi (1890-1964) was an Italian painter and graphic artist and is one of the most important still life painters. He dealt with objects of everyday use such as bowls, vessels, bottles, jugs, cups, mugs, vases, and experimented throughout his life with surface and spatiality.

Koenraad Dedobbeleer (*1975 in Halle, Belgium) creates sculptures, objects, space-related installations and photographs that are rich in allusions, ironic commentary and art historical references. He focuses on everyday objects, which are modified and placed in new contexts by means of deconstruction, transformation and manipulation. The contextual shifts of the everyday objects and motifs make the viewer question the existence of things and their existence in newly created reference spaces.

selected works