The Frankfurter Kunstverein is currently planning to establish two living and working spaces for artists, curators and other cultural producers. The Residency Program is not ready yet, but hopefully it will already this year be possible to invite the first guests into the flats.
The role of an institution such as the Frankfurter Kunstverein is not only to present and reflect upon today’s art production. It should also attempt to create new ideas and models for the future through intense collaboration with cultural producers from different cultural contexts and generations.
Also before the flats have been built, various artists will be invited into the house to present their work and to stay for a while in Frankfurt. The aims of the presentations are to clarify the possibilities of this facility and to win potential partners for the program. Within this framework, the first »guest« of the Residency Program will be Francesc Ruíz (*1971) from Barcelona who, from April 4, will show his work on the second floor of the Kunstverein.
Ruíz works mostly site-specifically, using a cartoon inspired mode of drawing as a means of communication, with which he maps his experiences and interpersonal interactions in the social and urban context he is in. Concerning social relations, he is interested in the expectations that we project upon others and that condition our perception.
Ruíz will arrive in Frankfurt shortly before the reopening of the Kunstverein on April 4. In the space of the future guest flat, he will present older works as well as sketches for work created especially in and for the city. Subsequently, he will spend three months in Frankfurt, using the city as a starting point for new site-specific works. The visitor will get the opportunity to follow the development of his work in the Frankfurter Kunstverein and to discuss the output with the artist.