Gianin Conrad

Usum

July – September 6 2015

The new works by Gianin Conrad (b.1979, lives and works in Winterthur and Chur) oscillate charmingly between the artwork and the everyday object: Shelves appear lost among the exhibits they hold; a monstrous clay sculpture requires daily watering; and a pile of Turkish towels, recreated from terracotta, is casually placed on a partially built model of a human torso. In the main hall, vitrine-like clusters of branches provide the means of display for a range of 'arty' objects. The oddly playful nature of these object supports, however, speaks more of the joys of making than the search for any design solution. As art-cum-utility objects, presented in a museum, they prompt questions about how modes of institutional display might shape interpretation. In the smaller hall of the Kunsthalle, a bold sculpture holds centre stage, made from unfired clay and partly wrapped in wet towels. Surrounded by a selection of smaller terracotta sculptures, the arrangement resembles a curious object tête-à-tête. Though raw and gestural in appearance, they bring to mind facets of both high-cultural and domestic settings - the sculpture court and the living-room mantlepiece. One can imagine them as the motley results of a pottery class, perhaps, where students attempted, but failed, to meet the formal ideals of classical sculpture.

Joëlle Menzi