Christina Kubisch: E silenzio negli angoli

Internationally renowned as the creator of a vast corpus of complex works that tend to induce synaesthetic perception in whoever experiences them, German artist Christina Kubisch (Bremen, 1948), active since the early 1970s, has never ceased her investigations. One of the first visual artists to understand and make use of sound (or perhaps one should say musical) elements in their work, Kubisch was one of the participants in the seminal 'Für Augen und Ohren' exhibition curated by René Block in Berlin in 1980. Over the past few years thanks to the art world's growing interest in this line of research - in which Kubisch, together with Max Neuhaus, Rolf Julius, Terry Fox, Hans Peter Kuhn and a select few others, is considered an essential reference point - Kubisch's work has become more widely known, attracting the attention of a new generation of artists who appreciate its continuing freshness, the way it so deftly sidesteps stale repetition, and recognize in it certain unique, one might almost say archetypal, defining qualities. The use of magnetic induction cables, a practice taken up with minor variations by a number of younger artists in the last few years, of 'wood' lamps or solar-panel-activated electronic devices, are just some examples of Kubisch's technological approach to phenomenological reality (particularly its most hidden aspects, though ones that are extremely close to us). But what counts in the end is the poetics of her works, their elegant, almost ethereal minimalism obtained through the most simple of means: electric cables, speakers, solar panels.
This is Kubisch's first solo exhibition in Turin ever, it includes a major new site-specific installation together with a number of works 'uber die stille' (on silence) made in 1996 and several unpublished drawings.

Since 1973, works by Kubisch (who is also a musician and performer) have been exhibited in museums and galleries throughout the world. Among the major shows she has participated in are:
1978: Venice Biennale;
1982: Paris Biennale;
1987: Ars Electronica Festival (Linz); Documenta 8 (Kassel)
1990: "Landschaft" (Kassel Fridericianum); Sidney Biennale
1992: "The True and the False" (Tokyo, P3)
1996: sonambiente (Berlin)
2000: "Sonic Boom" (London, Hayward Gallery)
2001: "Visual Sound" (Pittsburgh, Mattress Factory)
2005: BIAS International Sound Art Festival (Tai Pei, Museum of Contemporary Art)
2006: "Licht Himmel" permanent light and sound Installation (Oberhausen, Gasometer)

Thanks to Goethe Institut Turin