MEYER*KAINER curated by Nicolaus Schafhausen
„Casualties“

Born in Düsseldorf in 1965, lives in Berlin and Rotterdam nicolaus Schafhausen has been director of the Witte de With, Center for Contemporary art in Rotterdam since 2005. This renowned institution, which has grown over the last two decades, principally appoints its leading positions internationally. Besides its conspicuity as a space for contemporary art, the Witte de With acts as a centre for cultural theory and discourse. Schafhausen was curator of the German Pavilion for the 52nd and 53rd Venice Biennials. he is author and editor of numerous publications on contemporary art.

Curated by_2011 Nicolas Schafhausen Galerie Meyer Kainer Thea Djordjadze Casualties A carpet is a versatile piece of furniture used by nomads. A carpet can be taken from one place to another without difficulty. For nomads, it is also a matter of taking a piece of their ‘homeland’ with them. Living in buildings – with or without carpets – but also living within languages, is something that we are all familiar with. Being able to speak several languages also implies being able to lead a nomadic life. The Berlin-based artist Thea Djordjadze, born 1971 in the Georgian capital Tbilis, switches in a seemingly effortless manner between Georgian, her second language Russian, German and also English. Therefore it is not surprising that carpet-like patterns weave structurally throughout her work. Djordjadze’s practice deals with the underlying meanings of minimalism and the materials she uses are inspired by modernism, post-modernism and their attributions. She deconstructs her materials into their ideological components in order to highlight the social utility that was rendered invisible by architecture and design. Djordjadze’s fascination for functionalism and formalism is distinctive in her installations. She is interested in identifying the symbiosis of the ‘assumed’ contradiction between conceptual and intuitive action in her work: How can function and form be read beyond their utility. Thea Djordjadze’s objects, sculptures and installations are a poetic analysis of our everyday life.