Daniel Knorr la Kunsthalle Fridericianum

Daniel Knorr
Scherben bringen Glück
7 December 2008 - 4 January 2009


Kunsthalle Fridericianum
Friedrichsplatz 18
Kassel, Germany

http://www.fridericianum-kassel.de

he Kunsthalle Fridericianum has invited the Berlin-based conceptual and performance artist Daniel Knorr (b. Bucharest, 1968) to present his performance project Scherben bringen Glück (Shards bring good luck). The project includes the creation of the sculpture City Pills and the ongoing production of spectacles from fragments of old glass during the entire run of the exhibition. The artist aims to make history – literally – visible in this way and to evoke associations with various levels of our culture. Daniel Knorr: 'On the one hand broken glass is a witness to a violent history, on the other it contains everyday cultural meanings and values. In Scherben bringen Glück the glasses stand for the visualisation of this ambivalent relationship.'

Daniel Knorr's work deals with the realationships between performance art, everyday life, public versus private space and the artist and the audience. Pursuing the principle of Conceptual Art, the artist explores the aspect of materialisation in art, calling it into question on various levels. Thoughts, ideas and feelings, but also identity, language and text all contribute to the realisation of his art.

In 2005 Daniel Knorr represented Romania at the Venice Biennale. As an 'anti-concept' he left the pavilion empty revealing the traces of the pavilion's usage over time. At this year's Berlin Biennale, Knorr questioned German history and the notion of national identity in his work Nationalgalerie, which featured the flags of Berlin's student fraternities – notorious for their right-wing stance – as a 'flag frieze' fluttering from the roof of the Neue Nationalgalerie. Knorr's contribution to Manifesta 7 in South Tyrol consisted of removing all the doors from one of the exhibition venues in Rovereto so that the art works on display were freely accessible 24 hours a day. The reactions to this project were documented and discussed in supplements in the local daily paper and in association with a Romanian periodical. The artist's contribution to Copenhagen's U-TURN Quadrennial for Contemporary Art caused quite a stir this autumn; Stolen History involved covering t he heads of the city's public sculptures with black balaclavas.

Scherben bringen Glück is the second exhibition, after Christoph Büchel's Deutsche Grammatik, under the new artistic director Rein Wolfs. Over the coming years the Fridericianum will host several more solo projects by Knorr. Wolfs has invited the artist to accompany him for the duration of his tenure in Kassel. 'Daniel Knorr's art stands for a dynamic connection between the conceptual and the performative. It attests to the artist's humanity, wit, dedication and institutional critique. Daniel Knorr will play a vital role in shaping the future profile of the Kunsthalle Fridericianum.'