Thomas Raat

The gallery talks provide space for in-depth discussions with an expert about the exhibition. The second speaker is artist Thomas Raat. He will guide visitors through his personal selection of artworks from the exhibition.  

The exhibition Günther Förg - A Fragile Beauty showcases the oeuvre of Förg, who, with his love for experiment and desire for freedom, challenged the boundaries between various disciplines using materials such as bronze, lead, plaster and reflective glass. Förg's work has been interpreted in several ways: initially he was considered a postmodernist, later mainly an heir of expressionism. The exhibition emphasizes, among other things, the rebellious and critical spirit with which Förg thoroughly challenged the canon of modern art. A Fragile Beauty transcends reductive categorizations and shows the oeuvre of this autonomous and idiosyncratic artist in its entirety.

MORE ABOUT THE SPEAKER

In the work of Thomas Raat, everyday elements are reconfigured into an alternative reality. He deconstructs and revises existing architectural objects such as chairs, tables, but also book covers. By doing so, he reflects on the legacy of modernist art and design with a specific focus on the historical avant-garde and its decisive influence on contemporary visual culture.

 His focus of interest is on the dissemination and differing applications of modernist visual language and the fragmentation of the original ideal. Through a combination of quotations and impersonations, Raat simulates authentic-looking, modernist artefacts that he positions at a turning point in which the experimental character of this radical, new visual language becomes conventional.