NOT QUITE A LOVE POEM

The solo exhibition NOT QUITE A LOVE POEM by Christina Krys Huber is dedicated to questions of queer identity and social belonging in seemingly standardised social structures. The focus is on the coexistence of different subjects in urban space and their relationship to each other, taking the immediate surroundings of Mouches Volantes as a reference. Christina Krys Huber's characteristic paintings, in which human bodies appear fragmented, serve as a starting point. The figures, some of which are only hinted at and distorted, merge with the abstract backgrounds on the canvas. In a new series of works presented for the first time, the artist also appropriates plywood from discarded IKEA Billy shelves. The pieces of furniture, often used for temporary and quick furnishings, are robbed of their actual function in their deconstructed form. The spatial installation plays with the visitors' self-perception and throws them back onto their own physicality. Through poetic texts, the artist also provides an insight into personal memories and into an imagined and real collective memory. A performative reading will take place as part of the opening. NOT QUITE A LOVE POEM is Christina Krys Huber's first presentation in North Rhine-Westphalia. Christina Krys Huber (they/them) works with painting, installation, text and performance. They reflect on what it means to live in the present and with which longings, memories and repressions have a formative effect. After studying at Central Saint Martins, University of the Arts London, they graduated in the class of Valérie Favre at UdK Berlin in 2021 with special honours. Christina Krys Huber has been presented nationally and internationally, most recently in a solo exhibition at Kunstraum Display (Berlin, 2022). Group exhibitions include presentations at the Biennale für Freiburg 2 (2023), at Tropez (Berlin, 2023), as well as during the Zurich Art Weekend 2023, at Villa Renata (Basel, 2022), at Museum im Bellpark (Kriens, 2020) and at Tate Exchange/Tate Modern (London, 2019). Christina Krys Huber lives and works in Berlin. Philipp Lange (he/him) is a curator, art historian and cultural manager. He studied art history and curatorial studies in Berlin, Paris and Frankfurt am Main. After working as assistant curator at the Brücke-Museum and Schinkel Pavillon, he is currently managing the friends’ circle of the KW Institute for Contemporary Art and the Berlin Biennale. In 2022, he was a curatorial fellow of the Goethe-Institut and curator-in-residence at the Cité internationale des arts, Paris. His writings include exhibition and catalogue texts, as well as reviews published in art magazines such as Monopol and PW. He lives and works in Berlin.