Schöner Wohnen

The title of the exhibition refers to the German residential magazine of the same name ‘Schöner Wohnen’, which can be considered a classic among many interior design magazines. ‘Schöner Wohnen’ also reflects the private spatial context of Be-Part's buildings, namely two villas, which originally served as living quarters and were later extended with a gallery space.

These villas were completely redesigned for ‘Schöner Wohnen’. Surrounded by tables, chairs, lamps, sofas, carpets, plants, vases, book racks, newspapers, plates, bottles, curtains, calendars, tin oil barrels, hi-fi systems, gas meters, bicycles, moving boxes, yes, even a painting (which, how could it be otherwise, is not a painting) ..., the unsuspecting visitor imagined himself in an ordinary household.

But appearances are deceptive: all the objects were created by an internationally select group of visual artists, giving the everyday objects meaning in a different, subcutaneous way. While the environment provided an ideal context, the works also revealed a wry backstory of human existence.

Artists: Dave Allen (GB), Richard Artschwager (USA), Pierre Bismuth (F), François Curlet (F), Dany Deprez (B) , Stan Douglas (CAN), Ceal Floyer (PAK/GB), Dora Garcia (E), Robert Gober (USA), Felix Gonzalez-Torres (CU/USA), Jochem Hendricks (D), Ann Veronica Janssens (B), Dieter Kiessling (D), Martin Kippenberger (D), Guillaume Leblon (F), Atelier van Lieshout (NL), Allan McCollum (USA), Tobias Rehberger (D), Ugo Rondinone (CH), Joe Scanlan (USA), Johannes Schwartz (D), Andreas Slominski (D), Simon Starling (GB), Michael Van den Abeele (B), Dimitri Vangrunderbeek (B), Richard Venlet (B), Barbara Visser (NL), Cerith Wyn Evans (GB), Peter Zimmerman (D) and Heimo Zobernig (A).

Curator: Moritz Küng