Krobath Wien curated by Fritz Emslander
„The Manifold Self / Das mannigfaltige Ich“
www.galeriekrobath.at
Curator(s):
Artist(s):
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Simon Schubert More
Simon Schubert *1976 in Cologne, lives and works in Cologne. Education 1997 – 2004 Studium Freie Kunst / Bildhauerei bei Prof. Irmin Kamp at the Kunstakademie Düsseldorf 2001 – 2004 Assistent von Prof. Paul Good, Lehrstuhl für Philosophie at the Kunstakademie Düsseldorf Solo Exhibitions 2025 Blindkammer, Lippische Gesellschaft für Kunst eV, Detmold Untiefen des Raums, Feld-Haus Clemens-Sels-Museum, Neuss 2024 Augmentum, Kunstverein Trier Junge Kunst, Trier Elementalraum, Galerie Martin Kudlek, Cologne 2022 The architecture of shadows, Galerie Martin Kudlek, Cologne Reflexionen, Galerie Thomas, Munich Lucide, Villa Rudolf Zwirner, Berlin 2020 Speicher, Galerie Martin Kudlek, Cologne 2019 Schattenreich, Museum Morsbroich, Leverkusen Raumfalte, Kunstverein Heinsberg, Heinsberg The Voice of the Lobster, Städtische Galerie Kaarst, with Cosima Hawemann, Kaarst 2018 Gordi, Kunstraum Julia Ritterskamp, Dusseldorf Durch endlose Flure, Kunstverein Cuxhaven, Cuxhaven Beyond the Doubt of a Shadow, Foley Gallery, New York City, USA 2017 Im Zweifel für den Zweifel, van der Grinten Galerie, Cologne 2016 Jenseits von Ideen, Galerie Wagner + Partner, Berlin In a room with no window, van der Grinten Galerie, Cologne (solo with Cosima Hawemann) Deuce, Kunstverein Wesseling, Wesseling (solo mit Cosima Hawemann) Bei Lichte betrachtet, Eichenmüllerhaus, Lemgo Fragmente einer Sammlung, Kunstsammlung Neubrandenburg, Neubrandenburg Wo auch immer ist jetzt, Galerie Thomas Modern, Munich 2015 Photome, van der Grinten Galerie, Cologne Multa Nocte, Foley Gallery, New York City, USA 2014 Vertigo, van der Grinten Galerie, Cologne 2013 Das Carbinett, van der Grinten Galerie, Cologne The unexcpected answer, Bodson-Emelinckx Gallery, Brüssel, Belgium Blind Space, Abtei Brauweiler, Brauweiler Dämmerfluchten, Galerie Thomas Modern, Munich 2012 Lucid Dreams, Galerie Thomas Modern (project space), Munich Weekend, Philara (solo mit / with Markus Karstiess), Dusseldorf Schattenfuge, Städtische Galerie Villa Zanders, Bergisch Gladbach 2011 Haus Ascher, Kunstverein Bregenz, Bregenz, Austria Galerie Thomas Modern (project space), Munich 2010 Lepidopter, Galerie Kudlek van der Grinten, Cologne 2009 In Apnoesie, Galerie upstairs berlin, Berlin 2008 Monode, Kunststation St. Peter, Cologne 2007 Paramären, Kudlek van der Grinten Galerie, Cologne 2006 Beckett, Literaturhaus, Cologne 2005 Faltwerk, Kunstraum 22, Cologne Entwohner, Kudlek van der Grinten Galerie, Cologne 2004 Speranza und so ( with Cosima Hawemann), Kunstraum Stapelhaus, Köln Group Exhibitions 2025 Galerie Martin Kudlek zu Gast bei Rudolf Zwirner, Villa Zwirner, Berlin 2024 Geschnitten, Gefaltet, Geformt-Papier!, Kunststation Kleinsassen, Kleinsassen Weiß, Bark Berlin Gallery, Berlin Wildcard, Galerie Martin Kudlek, Cologne 2023 Paperart, CODA Museum, Apeldoorn, The netherlands Off the pedestal, Foley gallery, New York City 2022 Faszination Papier, Gustav-Lübke Museum, Hamm 2021 Papier, Kunstverein Bamberg, Bamberg 2020 Schwellenangst, Städtische Galerie Bietigheim Bissigheim, Bietigheim Bissigheim (Oct.) Vu(e)s de dos, Delta Art Center, Namur, Belgien (Sept.) 2019 Nicht von Pappe, Haus Beda, Bitburg Realitätscheck, Kunstraum Potsdam c/o Waschhaus, Potsdam Drawing Wow, BCMA, Berlin 2018 Das letzte Bild, Stadtgalerie Saarbrücken, Saarbrücken Geheimnis Papier – Raumfolgen, Schloss Burgau, Düren 2017 Verzameling Jaques & Mimy Defauwes, Bonnefantenmuseum, Maastricht, The Netherlands 2016 Drawings Q, Galerie Fahnemann, Berlin Fünfzig Zigarren für das Licht der Zukunft, Schloss Untergröningen, Untergröningen 2015 Das Haar in der Suppe, Kunstverein Lo Spirito del Lago, Isola Bella im Lago Maggiore, Italy Walk the line, Kunstmuseum Wolfsburg, Wolfsburg Paper art, Jaffa Museum, Jaffa, Israel Papierarbeiten 5, Galerie Maurer, Frankfurt 2014 Einknicken oder Kante zeigen? Die Kunst der Faltung, Museum für Konkrete Kunst, Ingolstadt 50 Jahre. Leben mit der Kunst, Galerie Thomas Modern, Munich Ichnografia, Mare Gallery, Kreta, Griechenland Les esthétiques d’un monde désenchanté, Centre d´art contemporain Meymac, Meymac, France Selected cuts and alterations, Foley Gallery, New York City, USA 2013 Hair! Das Haar in der Kunst von der Antike bis Warhol von Tilman Riemenschneider bis Cindy Sherman, Ludwiggalerie, Schloss Oberhausen, Oberhausen 2012 Zeitgespenster, Museum Morsbroich, Leverkusen Trait papier, un essai sur le dessin contemporain, Musée des Beaux-Arts de La Chaux-de-Fonds, La chaux de-Fonds, Switzerland 2011 Quergänger, Kunstverein Lo spirito del Lago, Stresa, Italy Walking the line III, Kudlek van der Grinten Galerie, Cologne Zwischen Film und Kunst – Storyboards von Hitchcock bis Spielberg, Kunsthalle Emden, Emden Von Engeln und Bengeln, Kunsthalle Krems, Krems, Austria 2010 Camera Obscura, Kunstgalerij De Mijlpaal, Heusden Zolder, Belgium Liebhaberstücke, Kunstmuseum Mühlheim a.d.R., Mühlheim a.d.R. inGewikkeld, Clarissenkloster, Hasselt, Belgium Hängung #6, Sammlung Alison und Peter W. Klein, Eberdingen-Nussdorf Walking the borderline, Kunstverein Erfurt, Erfurt Der geheime Traum, Kunstverein Lo Spirito del Lago, Isola Bella im Lago Maggiore, Italy Rot, Galerie upstairs berlin, Berlin 1910 FIGUR 2010, Georg Kolbe Museum, Berlin Royal Academy Summer Exhibition 2010, Royal Academy of Arts, London, UK Infinite Fold, Galerie Thaddaeus Ropac, Paris, France Draw me a…, Galerie upstairs berlin, Berlin 2009 Chhtt…, Le merveilleux dans l’art contemporain: 2ème volet, CRAC ALSACE, Altkirch, France Art Made of Paper, Craft Museum of Finland, Jyväskylä, Finland Schatten & Räume. Drawings, prints, photographs and sculptures from 1909-2009, Emanuel von Baeyer, London, UK Kunstpreis junger westen 2009, Kunsthalle Recklinghausen, Recklinghausen Abstrakt bis Figurativ. Neue Deutsche Skulptur, Galerie upstairs berlin, Berlin Raumsichten, Gesellschaft für Kunst und Gestaltung, Bonn Sehnsucht nach dem Abbild. Das Porträt im Wandel der Zeit, Kunsthalle Krems, Krems, Austria Wasser und Wein – Der Katholische Faktor in der zeitgenössischen Kunst, Städtische Galerie im Leeren Beutel des Historischen Museums Regensburg, Regensburg 2008 Paper, Galerie upstairs berlin, Berlin Papierarbeiten, Galerie Thomas, Munich 2007 Tombola, kjubh Kunstverein, Cologne ENTROPIA, mit Cosima Hawemann, Kunststiftung Villa de Bank, Enschede, The Netherlands Mythos, Galerie upstairs berlin, Berlin 2006 Klasse Kamp 1974-2006, Kunsthalle Düsseldorf, Dusseldorf 2005 Siebenfach, GKK, Krefeld Lohn der Arbeit, Städtische Galerie, Herne KölnKunst 7, Cologne Vordemberge-Gildewart Stipendium der Stadt Köln, Stapelhaus, Köln 2004 Bergischer Kunstpreis, Museum Baden, Solingen Emprise Art Award, NRW-Forum Kultur und Wirtschaft, Düsseldorf Emprise Art Award, Museum Baden, Solingen Scholarships 2001 Reisestipendium der Freunde und Förderer der Kunstakademie Düsseldorf / Dusseldorf 2002 Kunstförderpreis Lovells, Dusseldorf 2003 Emprise Art Award (3. Preis), Dusseldorf 2004 Kunstförderpreis der Stadt Köln (Vordemberge-Gildewart Stipendium der Stadt Köln) 2007 Phönix Kunstpreis des ZVAB 2010 AIR Sandnes Residenz Stipendium, Sandnes, Norway 2024 NG Art Creative Residency, Maussane-les-Alpilles, France Selected Collections DRAF, David Roberts art foundation, UK Edwin Scharff Museum, Germany Jaques & Mimy Defauwes collection, The Netherlands Kunstsammlung des Bundestages, Germany Kunstsammlung Neubrandenburg, Germany Museum Villa Zanders, Germany NZZ Sammlung, Switzerland Sammlung Allison und Peter Klein, Germany Sammlung Heiner Bastian, Germany Sammlung Philara, Germany Spiegelberger Stiftung, Germany UBS Sammlung, Switzerland West collection, USA Rira collection, Germany Prof. Dr. Speck collection, Germany Rudolf Zwirner collection, Germany
Exhibition text
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At a time when we are overwhelmed by constant distraction and media irritation on the one hand and forced self-presentation on the other, Simon Schubert uses his analytical sculptures and immersive works on paper to pose the question of the location of the self. Where do I stand and how can I succeed in asserting myself? With the changeability that is demanded of us today, our own identity can sometimes slip away - as happens to Alice, who, in the all-confusing land of wonders, can only answer the question of who she is by admitting: “I hardly know, at the moment”.
In his Self-portrait (Selbstportrait) from 2014, on the other hand, Simon Schubert concentrates on the undeniable facts. He fills all the individual substances that his body contains in the appropriate quantities, neatly separated into gas bottles, jars and vials: a kit of life, arranged in a glass display case. The display is reminiscent of a scientific laboratory, but also of Snow White’s coffin. Could life, a soul, be breathed back into this person who has been broken down into its biochemical components?
Schubert's upright Dewar body (Dewarkörper, 2024), like the display case, roughly corresponds to the dimensions of his body. He used Dewar vessels (named after their British inventor), which are difficult to identify at first glance and which we find in commercially available thermos flasks. The exposed, mirrored interior of the jugs indirectly refers to people's inner lives. Schubert refers here to Leibniz, for whom, according to the theory of monads, each self-contained monad (soul) expresses the whole world from its perspective like a living mirror. However, he translates this idea into our age of fragmented subjectivity: the sculptural counterpart is composed of a multitude of insulating vessels. The multiplication of the conceivable - material or immaterial - contents stored inside corresponds on the surface to a diversely refracted mirror image in which viewers find themselves multiplied.
The two sculptures are surrounded by the virtuously folded paper works with which Schubert has become known. He works the paper like a sculptor, adding precise creases and creating relief-like drawings that - once they have been placed in the right light - translate the flat sheet into three-dimensionality and open up imaginary interiors. The viewer is drawn into long corridors and winding staircases, doors and vistas open up into ever new interiors.
A series of 24 small-format paper folds titled Bay Window Light (Erkerlicht, 2025) illustrates how the incoming light, which changes over the course of the day, makes rooms appear, models and changes them. The simulation is deceptively real, and yet we cannot enter the place. Nor do we know for sure whether we are seeing a window, a view through or a mirror or a picture within a picture at certain points in Schubert's folds.
Schubert intensifies this experience of uncertainty, the play with perception, in his paper installations. Especially for this exhibition, a new, walk-in space made entirely of paper has been created by partitioning off a room. We are invited to immerse ourselves in a parallel world, with white walls made of folded paper, a double floor and optically expanded spaces that extend beyond the real spatial boundaries. On entering the installation, we become part of a real staging and at the same time part of the illusion that unfolds here: The illusion of space within space within space.
In addition, a kind of counter-space, a vague, gloomy realm of shadows, seems to open up in one of Schubert's Spatial Mirrors (Raumspiegel, 2025) on each of the four walls, which is strikingly different from the light, linearly constructed architectural folds. Heavy metal frames enclose spaces that are lost in mists of color and are reminiscent of the opaque surfaces of historical mirrors. Schubert uses pigments here that change color when rubbed into the paper surface - an almost alchemical process in which he charges the pictures with energy and atmosphere.
What Simon Schubert's interiors have in common is that they are not places of self-assurance, but places of questioning. Like Samuel Beckett's plays, which strongly influenced him in his early years, his paper spaces lead us back to ourselves and into the labyrinths of our inner world. If we enter his fragile folding spaces, which - when the light fades - can dissolve back into the white of the paper at any time, then the surreal danger of our own disappearance also resonates.
Schubert intensifies the implicit reminder of one’s own transience with a vanitas sculpture placed in the middle of the paper space: his Time Capsule (Zeitkapsel, 2025) consists of crystals of the heavy metal bismuth that he has grown himself and then soldered together. Although bismuth is not hazardous to health, it is very slightly radioactive and extremely stable. It has a half-life of no less than 19 trillion years: an immeasurable period of time for us humans and hardly comprehensible even by cosmic standards, after which this time capsule will release its unknown interior - a period of time that makes us reflect, perhaps also admonishing us to be modest and mindful.
Like the interiors of the final scenes of Stanley Kubrick's Odyssey in Space, which oscillate masterfully between time and space, Simon Schubert's works seem to be freed from certain constraints of space and time. They point the way into a constantly growing edifice that the artist has been working on for some time and which, taken as a whole, can also be seen as a complex self-portrait: The artist sees each of his paintings, each paper folding, each graphite drawing and pigment work as a view into this proliferating building, each sculptural object as an object of furnishing. The room installation he has set up in the gallery becomes a walk-in part of this building for the duration of the exhibition and opens up a multifaceted space for reflection.
Schubert's works combine a strong physical presence that invites us to concentrate and pause, with a philosophical depth that prompts us to speculate on the question of who we are and in how many parts (subjects). And whether there is such a thing as a core, an essence that we can preserve and fall back on when we are in danger of losing ourselves again.
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