tobias rehberger. on top of surface - beneath some thought

Das sagt der/die Veranstalter:in:

on top of surface - beneath some thought, Tobias Rehberger’s ninth solo exhibition with neugerriemschneider, continues the artist’s extended engagement with the languages of design, architecture and advertisement, as they take hold with an eccentric melancholy. A suite of LED-lit sculptures, watercolor paintings and an imposing indoor fountain, elements of which reappear throughout the presentation, act as vehicles for reflection upon his personal and artistic development. They unite to a tragicomic ensemble that spans from the gallery’s courtyard and façade, before populating its interiors, shaping introspection by way of spatial assemblage. Both laudatory and critical, this contemplation manifests here in works that mimic and encapsulate the human experience, energetically guiding entry into a nuanced, pensive realm in which humor and sincerity come to a head, and are brought to coexist.

Emanating from the gallery’s exterior walls, neon hues present slogans that conflate or complicate meaning, deploying rhythm, linguistic conventions and the written word as arenas for experimentation. Arising from a series initiated in 2016, Rehberger’s sculptural maxims - political, existential, motivational, pithy or prodding - are each pointedly multifarious in their connotations, subverting messaging to broach truths often concealed. Acting as beacons, the works exude an ambivalent magnetism that transforms their immediate environment into a microcosm bustling with a vitality of its own. They draw a viewer into the gallery’s interior, where they confront The unexpected life of a discontent boy (2024): A 3D-printed fountain, the centerpiece of which is an oversized bust featuring the doubled face of the artist as a clown. His magnified expressions - closed eyes and an open, upturned mouth - paired with his pitched head join in an ambiguous ensemble between laughter and tear-shedding. This work lays the foundation for on top of surface - beneath some thought. The water that flows from its sculpted nose functions comically, dripping into the basin below to feed a self-sustaining cycle, while simultaneously, subtly hinting at the exhibition’s watercolor paintings, their materiality and their subjects - compositions that at once question superfice and substance, and perception and reality.

Rehberger’s photorealistic watercolor self-portraits (2017 - 2019), with him once again clad in clown makeup, see the artist at various stages of his career. Here, a procession of paintings acts as an abstracted overview of his practice, picturing not artistic output, but rather its author. Time at once accelerates and freezes, surveying a trajectory and holding it in suspension. Replete with stylized lettering and attention-grabbing backdrops, Rehberger’s images wryly appropriate the signatures of promotional ephemera, positioning him as an attraction and a performer. In further watercolor paintings, each titled I leave it up to you (all 2024), the artist depicts rain as it falls upon fogged windows. Beads of precipitation stick to the surfaces or descend their lengths, their forms and paths organic, crafted by forces beyond his control. Behind the panes sit atmospheric gradients, thrown out of focus as if by a camera’s lens - fields of color that hint at apparitions beyond grasp. Here too water’s circuitous presence comes to the fore. In mixture with pigment, the element becomes co-opted into a dialog between medium and motif, substance and likeness.

Tobias Rehberger (b. 1966) has been the subject of solo exhibitions at international museums and institutions including Gammel Strand, Copenhagen (2023); Kunstmuseum Stuttgart, Stuttgart (2022); Haus am Waldsee, Berlin (2019); Rockbund Art Museum, Shanghai (2019); Busan Museum of Contemporary Art, Busan (2018); Fondation Beyeler, Riehen/Basel (2016); Schirn Kunsthalle Frankfurt, Frankfurt am Main (2014); MACRO, Rome (2014); Leeum Museum of Art, Seoul (2012); MAXXI, Rome (2010); Museum Ludwig, Cologne (2008); Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam (2008); Fondazione Prada, Milan (2007); Tate Liverpool, Liverpool (2006); Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía, Madrid (2005); Palais de Tokyo, Paris (2002); Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago (2000); and Kölnischer Kunstverein, Cologne (1996). He has created a number of public, site-specific works, including those in Paris (2021), Riehen/Basel (2016), Münster (2013 - 2014, 1997), Seoul (2012), Miami Beach (2011), Oberhausen (2011) and Venice (2009). Rehberger lives and works in Frankfurt am Main and Berlin.

For further information, please contact: mail@neugerriemschneider.com.