Video art and digitally generated images
Under the title Verwirklichkeit, the Kunstverein Kunsthalle Hannover is showing a solo exhibition of the artist Till Nowak, born in Bonn in 1980 and living in the USA, who is regarded as one of the most innovative, imaginative protagonists of the digital art scene.
His range of works includes video art, images using digital printing processes, objects and installations as well as artworks in public spaces, such as HafenCity and Elbphilharmonie Hamburg, Rendsburger Hochbrücke, Castello di Napoli and much more. Nowak, who works as a “world creator” for many major film productions (such as “Black Panther”, “The Lion King” and “Midnight Special” and has made music videos for Deichkind, Katy Perry and Pjusk), draws inspiration from his artworks for film work in Hollywood.
The exhibition, curated by Prof Claus Friede, will present paintings and video works from the years 2017 to 2022. The often square pictures show a world of their own in very different close-up and distant effects, with many references to reality, but also to historical patterns – and all this with an almost childlike joy in experimenting and trying things out.
In the exhibition concept he developed, Friede writes: “In terms of content, Nowak deals with states of manipulation, with imaginable forms of possibility that only just slip past reality and with the question of how reality is formed, even in states of exception”.
“The truth is much more fragile than I thought,” the artist recently said in an interview, always referring himself and his work to current events in the world. Sometimes he sees himself as a surprised observer of an extraordinary development or escalation, sometimes the observation gives rise to a feeling that resonates with astonishment, fascination, but also sometimes unease. This is transferred to his works. The title of the exhibition contains a neologism made up of two words: realisation and reality.
Realisation: In the original sense, it means realising dreams, fantasies, wishes and desires – and this for all people. Later, “self-realisation” was added, but this was individualised and only focused on one’s own person.
The term reality was introduced into the German language by Meister Eckhart (1260-1328), a medieval painter, as a translation of the Latin word “actualitas”. Reality is everything that works! In the plural, the term shows that there are parallel fields of action. In this day and age, digitality certainly does.
Till Nowak: ” Verwirklichkeit”
Video art and digitally generated images
Exhibition duration:
Saturday, 14 January to Sunday, 12 January 2023
Vernissage: Friday, 13 January, 6 pm
Opening hours: Fri 4pm – 8pm, Sat and Sun 2pm – 6pm
Admission: 5 euros, reduced: 3 euros
Curator: Claus Friede, Contemporary Arts Hamburg
Organiser: Location:
In cooperation with:
With kind support from:
