25 February – 20 June 2010
Bonniers Konsthall is proud to present the first major presentation of the renowned artist Tomás Saraceno’s work in Europe. Specifically for the exhibition at Bonniers Konsthall Saraceno has enlisted the aid of spider researchers, astrophysicists, architects and engineers to create an enormous model – the first in its kind – of the web of the poisonous Black Widow spider. This new installation, 14 Billions (Working Title), will be shown together with 15 of Saraceno’s earlier works. Curator: Sara Arrhenius.
The artist and architect Tomás Saraceno is Bonniers Konsthall’s guest artist for 2010. Saraceno’s art explores possible visions of a better world, generating poetic, playful propositions for a human life in balance with the planet. His works occupy the border regions between science, art and architecture. They can include anything from spheres and cloud creations to flying gardens, space elevators and futuristic dwellings. The dream of a weightless state and the possibility of a human being moving freely above the clouds, free of the confines of gravity, recurs in several works.
In collaboration with spider researchers, astrophysicists, architects and engineers, Tomás Saraceno has spent two years developing the 400 cubic metre installation that will be exhibited at Bonniers Konsthall. A large-scale model of the poisonous spider the Black Widow’s web, the point of departure for the new work is how scientists use images of spiders' webs to describe the origin and structure of the universe. Tomás Saraceno’s installation for Bonniers Konsthall is a development of the work that the artist presented at the 53rd Venice Biennale in 2009: Galaxy Forming along Filaments, like Droplets along the Strands of a Spider’s Web. The new work will be accompanied by drawings, photographs and texts that provide a unique insight into Tomás Saraceno’s working process and art.
In conjunction with the exhibition, Bonniers Konsthall will produce a comprehensive publication, including essays by the researchers and curators involved in the project. The new installation 14 Billions (Working Title) will travel to BALTIC, Gateshead, UK and other venues.
Tomás Saraceno was born in 1973 in Argentina and lives and works in Frankfurt. He has participated in numerous exhibitions world-wide, including solo presentations at the Walker Art Center, Minneapolis, USA, 2009; the Mudam, Musée d’Art Moderne, Luxemburg, 2009; and Tanya Bonakdar Gallery, New York, 2008. He participated in the 53rd Venice Biennale 2009 and group exhibitions at the Barbican, London, 2009; Statens Museum for Kunst, Copenhagen, 2009; Wanås, Sweden; and Life Forms at Bonniers Konsthall, 2009. In 2009, the artist received the Calder Prize.
The exhibition is supported by Clarion Hotel Sign, Instituto Cervantes and Goethe-Institut Schweden.
For more information and press images, please visit: www.bonnierskonsthall.se
For further information, please contact:
Metta Flensburg, Press Officer Bonniers Konsthall
+46-8-736 42 66, +46-70-280 04 13
metta.flensburg@bonnierskonsthall.se