inverse, youniverse

20240609-20240922

Solo at Kunstverein Arnsberg.

Curated by Pauline Doutreluingne:
"In his solo exhibition INVERSE, YOUNIVERSE, Olivier Goethals reflects on thought and action, and on the inversion of space and the self in space. This is Olivier Goethals' first institutional solo exhibition in Germany.

Olivier Goethals creates an experience that combines visual art and the idea of space into a multi-layered overall experience. His intervention reacts to the way we move in space and questions the visitor's pathways.

Scale, light and form are manipulated and controlled.

INVERSE, YOUNIVERSE A wooden structure connects and divides. The visitor enters a narrow, sunken space. A series of paintings unfolds along a new wall: Happy Harvest (2023-2024), 12 smiling, pastel-colored skulls. The distance between the painting and the visitor becomes very small. This proximity forces visitors to look closely at the works and expose themselves to them.

Visitors can enter the space behind through various openings. From inside to outside. A series of 12 line drawings, doubled and stretched thought images of time and space, can be seen here. (Speak In, Think Out, 2024). These works reflect the viewer's gaze from the inside (onto oneself) to the outside (into the surrounding space).

The exhibition INVERSE, YOUNIVERSE is organized as part of the larger project (UN)SYSTEMIC ENTANGLEMENTS (2024-2025), a trilogy of 3 solo exhibitions by the artists Ana Alenso - Olivier Goethals - Mariechen Danz.

"The world we have created is a process of our thinking. It cannot be changed without changing our thinking" (Albert Einstein). Inspired by this thought, this exhibition project explores and tests how we as humans are controlled by certain systems of thinking and how a change in thinking enables change. Systemic means that something is connected to an overarching system. In this three-part exhibition series, we investigate, through three artists' positions, what happens when defined systems are reversed?"

With the kind support of the Flemish Government. thx!
+ Thx at Dr. Andrea Piorreck-Teiser and Dr. Johannes Teiser, Horst Krause & Werner Musenbrock!