45cbm: René Stessl : Program – Staatliche Kunsthalle Baden-Baden

Three people are eating and working in a bright café with large windows.

A minimalistic gallery room with artworks and a small table with chairs.

A person serves another person a dish of flowers at a table in a gallery.

People at an art gallery event sitting and standing while enjoying drinks and discussions.

Three individuals in suits are seated and eating, enjoying conversation at a decently adorned table.

Three people have a conversation around a small table in an art gallery.

Three men in suits sit at a table with wine glasses observing a capsule on the table.

A minimalistic art installation featuring a table, two chairs, and framed artwork on white walls.

Artist

René Stessl

Curator

Hendrik Bündge

"Make Egoism Great Again!" This guiding principle could stand for those nationalist tendencies worldwide that force politicians to trade tariffs against other countries or enforce border controls for their own protection. But do you really need more selfishness these days?

The exhibition by the Austrian artist René Stessl (*1974) invites you to explore this complex topic. Two tables, two chairs and a plant make up the interior of The Restaurant of Egoists in the studio room 45cbm. Food and drinks of the Café Kunsthalle can be ordered and consumed in the installation itself. In doing so, the guest sits down to meet himself. The principle of a relational aesthetic in the sense of Nicolas Bourriaud, who understands works of art as social environments, in which experiences are shared, is humorously counteracted by Stessl.

Welcome speech: Johan Holten, Director of Staatliche Kunsthalle Baden-Baden

Introduction: Hendrik Bündge, Curator of the exhibition

René Stessl (*1974, Bad Radkersburg, Austria) lives and works in Cologne. He studied at the Academy of Fine Arts in Vienna with professors Mona Hahn and Erwin Bohatsch and participated in numerous solo and group exhibitions worldwide.