June 13, 2022 to August 21, 2022
Vernissage on June 12, 2022, 6:00-9:00 p.m.

The exhibition GILDED brings together works of contemporary art that deal with the material and colour gold and examines the ideas of value and symbolic power associated with it. Is the recurring turn to a traditionally charged material in contemporary art an attempt to liberate the precious metal from its historical heritage, pomp and pathos? Is this a test of the statement "all that glitters is not gold" by transferring or shifting the ever-coveted and shiny material into other contexts? GILDED brings together artistic reactions that are associated with the material, but also with the colour. It is not so much about material fetishism or techniques, but rather about using artistic expressions and interpretations to activate very different associative spaces and trigger critical thinking. The works in this exhibition use real and artificial gold to reflect on old and new alliances and social transformation processes between communication and identification. The clichéd quotations and levels of meaning of gold(s) shift, but without overwriting history. Above all, the eternity and durability of gold is questioned. Capital investments are also critically questioned: for example, is gilded art still more valuable today and are the shiny cups and trophies made of gilded metal still ethically durable in the face of increased pressure to perform? Is it all just a refined illusion? Or does the debate and development around materialism, between ostentation and luxury, still reveal an individual change in values in a society increasingly characterised by capital and possessions?

Works by: Olivia Berckemeyer, Antje Blumenstein, Ruth Campau, Luka Fineisen, Niklas Goldbach, Eckart Hahn, David Krippendorff, Claudia Kugler, Alicja Kwade, Andréas Lang, Via Lewandowsky, Michael Müller, Sebastian Neeb, Andrea Pichl, Johanna Reich, Stéphanie Saadé, Michael Sailstorfer, Karin Sander, Henrik Strömberg, Philip Topolovac, Panos Tsagaris, Frauke Wilken, Andrea Winkler, Clemens Wolf, He Xiangyu.

Compiled by Harald F. Theiss | Curator.

Parallel to this exhibition at Schloss Biesdorf, an exhibition of the same name, also curated by Harald F. Theiss, is taking place at the Château de Nyon | Switzerland.

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