Body Language – Groupshow

Five artists, five nations, three artistic media, and one goal: the exhibition Body Language reveals the different ways we relate to our bodies. It addresses strength, alienation, suffering, and identity. Physicality becomes (again) perceptible as a human quality in a time when digital experience and artificial intelligence are becoming increasingly prevalent. Ultimately, Body Language refers to the perception of one’s materiality both as a physically tangible aspect and as the sensations associated with corporeality.

The exhibition features:

A sculpture by Tamara Kvesitadze that simultaneously constructs and deconstructs the human figure in search of human identity. The kinetic sculpture Revolving Woman presents the figure of a woman and refers to inner conflicts and the brokenness of human existence, while her watercolours show relationships between people and genders that are as full of pleasure as they are of suffering.

Analog photographic works by Valentina Murabito, in which the human body is captured in its physicality and then transformed into an ethereal sculpture. Her motifs appear archaic and modern at the same time, exploring the fascination with the human body and its origins. Supplemented by painterly and sculptural elements, her work examines themes of alienation and familiarity, as well as aggression and vulnerability.

Paintings by the Korean artist Youjin Yi, whose seemingly childlike and fairytale-like formal language and subjects reflect a longing for transcendental experience. Despite the ambiguity of the figures, embedded in dreamlike and supratemporal spaces, the soft, plastic bodies appear as grounded and tangible as real human bodies.

Paintings by Pablo Benzo, whose delicate formal language and use of pastel colours evoke the sensuality of the human body. The interplay between round and angular, soft and hard forms directs attention to objects and landscapes that appear animated and almost human. Associations with South American Surrealism and Pittura Metafisica are evoked.

Sculptures by Jay Gard speak directly to the senses. Positioned between functionality and free artistic expression, his works appear adapted to human needs and desires. They form a body of objects with their own expressive language—forms that can be perceived as both feminine and masculine.

Tamara Kvesitadze was born in 1968 in Tbilisi, Georgia. She graduated with a Master of Arts degree from the Faculty of Architecture at Tbilisi Technical University in 1990. Her works are held in major public and private collections in France, the USA, Germany, the UK, Vietnam, China, and Georgia. She has received international recognition and has exhibited worldwide, including at the Venice Biennale, where she represented Georgia in 2011, after participating in a group exhibition there in 2007.

Valentina Murabito, born in 1981 in Giarre, Italy, studied graphic arts at the Academy of Fine Arts in Catania. She began experimenting with analog photography at the Moholy-Nagy University of Art and Design in Budapest. She is a member of the German Photographic Academy (DFA) and has exhibited widely across Europe, including at Städtische Galerie Rosenheim & Sammlung SpallArt (2019), Fabbrica del Vapore / EXPO Milan (2015), Stift Klosterneuburg (2014), Museum Migliarino (2014), Albertina Academy of Fine Arts Turin (2013), and Kunstmuseen Erfurt / Galerie Waidspeicher (2023). Since 2023, she has been a fellow of the Konrad Adenauer Foundation.

Youjin Yi, born in 1980 in Gangneung, South Korea, lives and works in Munich. She studied at Sejong University in Seoul and at the Academy of Fine Arts Munich, was a guest student at the Berlin University of the Arts under Leiko Ikemura, and later a master student of Günther Förg. She has participated in solo and group exhibitions in Germany, France, Switzerland, and South Korea and has received numerous grants and awards.

Pablo Benzo was born in 1982 in Santiago de Chile and has lived in Berlin since 2013. He holds a BA in Graphic Design from the University of Chile (2009). His work has been shown in numerous solo and group exhibitions worldwide, including at the Fondation Medianoche in Granada (Spain), the Deji Museum in Nanjing, the Xiao Museum in Rizhao (China), and the Colección Casa in Santiago (Chile).

Jay Gard, born in 1984 in Halle an der Saale, lives and works in Berlin. He studied graphic arts and painting at Burg Giebichenstein University of Art and Design in Halle under Prof. Thomas Ruf, was a guest student in the sculpture class of Prof. Florian Slowata at UdK Berlin, and completed a diploma in Installation and Space at the Academy of Visual Arts Leipzig under Prof. Joachim Blank. He has worked as an assistant to Tom Sachs in New York and has exhibited widely in Europe and the USA, as well as realizing permanent public art installations in Germany.