Simon Fujiwara
Tools I (from Desk Toys)
Tools I (from Desk Toys)
€ 2,400
Simon Fujiwara
Grand Tour
Sep 7 – Nov 17, 2013
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Simon Fujiwara, 2013, Courtesy the artist
For his installations, performances, plays and literary works, Fujiwara sets off in pursuit of stories and slips into ever new roles, becoming an archeologist, architect, writer or director. In the process, his own biography and those of others serve as his starting point. He links them at will with historical persons and events and adds fictional elements. Personal aspects or those from society as a whole, fact and fiction merge inextricably and are presented to the viewer in elaborately staged spaces. With sensitive wit, Fujiwara poses serious questions concerning the manipulation of history and the influencing of collective memory in addition to the mechanisms of suppression and violence, authority and power.
Inspired by his travels through Europe, Asia, South America and the Middle East, Simon Fujiwara has filled the spaces of the Kunstverein’s early classicistic villa for his Grand Tour exhibition with objects, letters, archeological finds and sculptures that he brought back with him. In the 18th and 19th centuries, the “Grand Tour” was a step on the rite of passage for young men belonging to the Northern European elite. Their explorations usually led them to Southern Europe where they gathered artifacts and inspiration both as a means of passing the time as well in conjunction with serious educational activities. Continuing on from this, Fujiwara’s own travels form the starting point for his personal narratives in which he explores modern shifts in the fields of national identity, political correctness, poverty, prosperity and sexuality. The Villa Salve Hospes—built in 1808 at the highpoint of European hegemony—becomes the venue for Fujiwara’s exceptional and constantly evolving projects.
Simon Fujiwara (born 1982 in London, lives in Berlin) studied architecture at Cambridge University and later fine art at the Städelschule in Frankfurt am Main. He has received the Cartier Award and the Baloise Art Prize (both 2010). Fujiwara has furthermore taken part in numerous international exhibitions and biennales (among them Venice 2009, São Paulo 2010 and Singapore 2011). Tate St. Ives dedicated a major solo exhibition to his work in 2012.
The exhibition has been generously supported by:
Niedersächsische Sparkassenstiftung, Braunschweigische Landessparkasse,
Niedersächsisches Ministerium für Wissenschaft und Kultur
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