Tuesday, November 4, 2008

KAI 10 Raum fuer Kunst



KAI 10 Raum für Kunst is a private, non-commercial institution for the promotion of contemporary art. Supported by the Arthena Foundation, a non-profit organization founded by entrepreneur Monika Schnetkamp, and housed in a former warehouse in Düsseldorf's Media Harbour, KAI 10 is an extraordinary new exhibition site.

KAI 10 will produce three to four exhibitions annually, offering international artists a platform for the presentation and discussion of their works. Although the focus is on the newest, most current art, the KAI 10 program will also include better-known, established artists. This will provide opportunities to identify the points where the works intersect thematically, as well as the differences between generations. In accordance with the character of today's artistic practice, the exhibitions will integrate various media and production methods. Moreover, aesthetic commonalities and dissimilarities between art and its adjacent cultural discourses - for instance, in design and architecture - will also be explored. As a private, independent institution, KAI 10 is building an active space committed to conveying contemporary art's new ideas and ways of thinking to the public in Düsseldorf and beyond.

KAI 10's inaugural exhibition, NO ILLUSIONS is neither thematic nor programmatic. Curated by Zdenek Felix, the exhibition features work by Björn Dahlem, Thomas Helbig, Manfred Pernice, Marjetica Potrc, Franz West, and Heimo Zobernig. Their work represents a dialogue between the older and younger generation, yet it resists the trends employed in the successful marketing of superficial appearances. NO ILLUSIONS takes a stand against the tendency of some of today's art to favor illusionism and sensationalism, demonstrating that there are still critical antitheses in present-day art.

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