THE FORCES BEHIND THE FORMS.
EARTH'S HISTORY, MATTER, PROCESS IN CONTEMPORARY ART

The exhibition The forces behind the forms – a title that goes back to the artist and geologist Per Kirkeby – is dedicated to the exploration of matter and the forming processes in contemporary art. The exhibition covers works that reflect on creative processes and shaping forces of nature, translating them into an artistic form and explore their references to human beings. With an inquisitive mind the artists travel around the world and develop a geology of our present in found objects and new conglomerations. They use geology as a language in order to make our understanding of time as well as our relationship to a constantly changing environment accessible and find corresponding forms of expressions for creative processes of nature and growth processes in various artistic media. They moreover deal with the consequences of our treatment of nature, matter and ultimately ourselves. With, inter alia, Jonathan Bragdon, Nina Canell, Julian Charrière, Olafur Eliasson, Ilana Halperin, Roger Hiorns, Per Kirkeby, Katie Paterson, Giuseppe Penone, Jens Risch and guests, Hans Schabus, George Steinmann.

In cooperation with the Kunstmuseen Krefeld / museums Haus Lange, Haus Esters and Galerie im Taxispalais, Innsbruck

With generous support of:

Kulturstiftung des Bundes (Germany), Pro Helvetia, Ernst Göhner Stiftung, Ernst und Olga Gubler-Hablützel Stiftung, Ursula Wirz-Stiftung