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Call and Response: George Steinmann in Dialogue
It is a pleasure and honour for the Kunstmuseum Thun to present artist George Steinmann, who grew up in Thun, in a solo exhibition. Steinmann enjoys an excellent reputation both nationally and internationally. He is also one of the most important builders of bridges between art and research in Switzerland. In 2011 the University of Bern awarded him with a honorary doctorate for his profound and sustained involvement with the role of art as a driving force for a sustainable society.
Steinmann’s work is mostly created processually. That is in the nature of things, as these projects are always very time-consuming with the inclusion of artists and scientists from the transdisciplinary field. The meticulously prepared projects focus on people from different cultures and varied demographic and occupational groups. Starting from the premises of the Kunstmuseum Thun, Steinmann creates spatial installations between major works of earlier creative phases and recent works in a dialogue with past and present companions such as Mike Henderson, Shaarbek Amankul, Jost Kutter, Prof. Dr. Konrad Ott, Prof. Christoph Schenker and Selma Dubach.
Both, exhibition and catalogue provide insight into Steinmanns forms of knowledge and his view on the environment, and moreover they analyse in detail the development of his work. Certain groups of works are not yet completed. Other long-term projects will be installed in a new context and are thus anchored in the present. Earlier research results and questions are more virulent than ever in todays art discourse and position Steinmann’s demands and findings for a sustainable and responsible use of our resources in a volatile dialogue.
Helen Hirsch, Director and Curator Kunstmuseum Thun
Indicator + + + The dialogue is the essence of the 21st century – we live in a globalised world, are completely interconnected and have access to infinite information. But all this is not enough if we do not find our way to a culture of mutual respect. Only a mutual understanding of different views and perspectives allows for the solution of current problems. I therefore believe that art, which adequately meets the challenges of our time, will have overcome its self-imposed isolation in the modern age. I not only want to respond with my art, but enable networks of relationships. I am interested in dialogue and cooperation with the knowledge that the social reality in the 21st century has become too complex for us to afford the luxury of a disciplinary simplification. + + +