Kunstverein Nürnberg – Albrecht Dürer Gesellschaft

The Kunstverein Nürnberg is proud to present “The Supporters,“ a project by Eva Barto produced in collaboration with the Künstlerhaus Stuttgart and Galerie Max Mayer, Düsseldorf. Barto’s practice consists of subtle interventions in social systems and the economics that govern relationships between individuals and groups. By changing and rendering visible the flows of both concrete and abstract capital that maintain these systems, Barto extends the institution beyond its physical framework, opening up otherwise opaque structures for interpretation. “The Supporters” suggests that funding generates meaning within an exhibition, where financing not only matters but materializes, transforming objects and institutions by re-situating them within economic and political geographies.

At the center of the project are two mirror exhibitions with different funding structures hosted by the Kunstverein Nürnberg and the Künstlerhaus Stuttgart. They consist of a series of connected objects: a publication, mounted vinyls listing the supporters of each exhibition (Kunstverein Nürnberg: Bureau des arts plastiques | Institut français d’Allemagne, AL-KO, Galerie Max Mayer, Kulturreferat der Stadt Nürnberg, Bezirk Mittelfranken, and Grundig / Künstlerhaus Stuttgart: Ministerium für Wissenschaft, Forschung und Kunst Baden-Württemberg, Stadt Stuttgart, and Galerie Max Mayer), and three videos, “The Supporters,” in which the camera silently circles a series of contract signings as well as acts of giving and compensating in a space featuring the painting “Self suffocating furnace.” The videos are hosted by Galerie Max Mayer and are available on the websites of both institutions and the gallery (please see the floor plan for links). The publication accompanying the exhibitions contains texts, receipts, and contracts relating to the sponsorships and donations for “The Supporters.” Galerie Max Mayer has made a charitable donation to the Künstlerhaus Stuttgart, while a sponsorship deal has been agreed between Galerie Max Mayer and the Kunstverein Nürnberg. Finally, Barto has requested that the exhibition spaces be supplied with air filters—the AL-KO “AIRSAFE 1200”—in line with the stipulations of the Kunst trotz Abstand grant received by the Künstlerhaus Stuttgart from the state of Baden-Württemberg during the preparation of the exhibition. Due to the differing sizes of the exhibition spaces, the Kunstverein Nürnberg will have one air filter, while the Künstlerhaus Stuttgart will have two.

The sponsorship funds received by the Kunstverein Nürnberg from Galerie Max Meyer for the production of the exhibition have—in agreement with the gallery—been allocated to the purchase of the AL-KO “AIRSAFE 1200” filter at the Kunstverein Nürnberg. The air filters at the Künstlerhaus Stuttgart will be inventoried and remain in the possession of the Künstlerhaus, while the air filter at the Kunstverein Nürnberg will be transferred to Galerie Max Mayer one year after the exhibition ends (or at an otherwise agreed time).  The gallery will use the air filter on their premises after the transfer.