21 Apr 2010

Stefan Bruggemann at Kunsthalle Lissabon

SHOW TITLES is a work in progress by Stefan Brüggemann and consists of a list of over 1200 possible exhibition titles. These titles are available for use by any artist, curator or institution, and the only requirement is, if used, to identify and credit them as a piece by Stefan Brüggemann. In Kunsthalle Lissabon, SHOW TITLES will be presented for the first time as a sound installation, through which a seemingly endless list of possible exhibition titles will be audible by the audience.

By emptying Kunsthalle Lissabon of all objects and through reducing his participation to an apparently aleatory enumeration of exhibition titles (including more main-stream proposals such as POST-PUNK, UNPRODUCTIVISM, THE DENIAL OF THE UNIQUENESS, cryptic ones such as ONE HUNDRED TEENAGE DUTCH GIRLS and ANORAK or ironic ones like WHY DIDN'T YOU MAKE IT LARGER and IT ISN'T FURNITURE) and, consequently, of curatorial topics and concepts, Brüggemann both makes explicit and questions the subjective and sometimes random nature of how curatorial discourse is constituted, presented and legitimized.
SHOW TITLES (AUDIO) concludes the first year-long curatorial cycle at Kunsthalle Lissabon.

On April 29th, the opening day, and preceding it, at 7 p.m., the first live edition of words don't come easy will take place. A public conversation between Nicolas de Oliveira, Luís Silva e João Mourão will address Stefan Brüggemann's practice, the SHOW TITLES (AUDIO) exhibition and its connection to the assumptions that have guided Kunsthalle Lissabon's first year-long curatorial cycle. The conversation will be published and made available during the exhibition period and archived in Kunsthalle Lissabon's website.


Stefan Brüggemann was born in Mexico City in 1975 and lives and works in Mexico City and London. Having started his artistic activity in the late nineties, a selection of solo shows include: Headlines & Last Line in the Movies, Yvon Lambert, New York, 2010; Stefan Brüggemann, Yvon Lambert, Paris, 2009; Stefan Brüggemann, FRAC Bourgogne, Dijon, 2008; The Fall - Stefan Brueggemann with DR ATL, Bloomberg Space, London, 2008; 10 new works, Galeria de Arte Mexicano, Mexico City, 2008; Black Box, Kunsthalle Bern, Bern, 2008; Soap box (a decorative form of nihilism), Kerlin Gallery, Dublin, 2008; Obliteration Series, Blow de la Barra, London, 2007; Stefan Brüggemann, I-20, New York, 2006. A selection of the group show in which his work has been featured include: The Making of Art, Schirn Kunsthalle, Frankfurt, 2009; Use of term, Centro Cultural Monte Hermoso, Bilbao, 2008; Looks Conceptual, Galeria Vermelho, Sao Paulo, 2008; Social sculpture, Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago, Chicago, 2007; Clearly Invisible, Centre d'Art Santa Monica, Barcelona, 2007; Draw a Straight Line And Follow It, Bard College, New York, 2007; L'exposition qui n'existe pas, Musée d'art moderne et contemporain, Geneva, 2007. Brüggemann is represented by Yvon Lambert, Paris and New York.