"ein weißes Feld" - Gregor Hildebrandt curates out of the sammlung FIEDE

One branch of the Cultural Avenue is sammlung FIEDE; a young, international, private art collection.

„Carte Blanche“: absolute power, freedom of action (or rather jester’s licence?), the surprising, the unknown, the new. This is the leading thought behind the exhibition “ein weißes Feld” – “ a blank page”, curated by Gregor Hildebrandt.

The artist, living and working in Berlin is known for his images, sculptures and room installations, composed of cassette – and videotapes, records and CDs. He uses everyday materials and objects that, due to an arrangement in clear and repetitive forms, suggest an immediate reference to the art of minimalism of the Sixties. Yet, at the same time, the artist refuses this position playfully by adding a subjective and very personal notion to each of his works. Hildebrandt deliberately reflects his inspiration retrieved through music, film, literature and personal experience of the contemporary pop-culture in his art-works. According to the artist, the usage of cassette – and/or film tapes adds yet another, invisible layer on to the surface, enabling every viewer to find a personal conclusion to the pieces.

His oeuvre enjoys both, national as well as international recognition. Thus, his works are exhibited not only in Germany, but also across the European borders, reaching from the Netherlands, Denmark, Spain, Italy, Zurich and Salzburg to Tel Aviv, Paris and Miami, where his works are shown alongside renowned artists such as Fishli & Weis, Claire Fontaine, Franz West and Christopher Wool.

Hence, it is noteworthy that the first opening of the 'sammlung FIEDE' is occurring in collaboration with Gregor Hildebrandt. The venue, a former slaughterhouse, has been refurbished and renovated by Friedrich Gräfling himself over the last three years. The goal is on the one hand to create a permanent space for his own art collection – 'sammlung FIEDE' – and on the other hand to create a location for changing exhibitions by young and interesting artists.

The collaboration demonstrates not only that even outside of his works, personal relationships are of utmost importance to Gregor Hildebrandt, but above all it enables the opening of the exhibition space with works of the 'sammlung FIEDE' that have never been shown publicly before. 'sammlung FIEDE' trustfully hands artworks of his collection over to the artists and permits him thereby complete freedom of action. Thus, the artist has the chance to literally colour the “blank page” as he wishes, however without straining it with a highly conceptual curatorial rationale - it is still the personal relation that is put in focus. Alongside new, specifically for this exhibition produced works, Gregor Hildebrandt will choose pieces from the 'sammlung FIEDE' that reflect the character of this adolescent collection.

The Berlin based artist had unconfined discretionary and placed works by Andreas Blank, Olafur Eliasson, Andreas Gursky, Constantin Hartenstein, Gregor Hildebrandt, Damien Hirst, Nathan James, Oliver Jones, Hayden Kays, Alicja Kwade, Daniel Lergon, Theo Lorenz, Sarah Maple, Hynek Martinec, Michael Sailstorfer, Tomás Saraceno, Stuart Semple, Bob & Roberta Smith, Katja Strunz and Jorinde Voigt in a new context.