AZ ÖSSZES KÉP: Részlet KRISTÓF Gábor Half-Life című kiállításából, WANNSEE Contemporary 2023.
© a WANNSEE Contemporary és a művész jóvoltából. Fotók: Boaz AradA new solo exhibition by Gábor Kristóf (1988, based in Budapest) sheds light onto two large and rather unknown institutions located in the peaceful and picturesque surroundings of Berlin-Wannsee. One is the Helmholtz Center Berlin for Materials and Energy (HZB), where between 1973 and 2019 the BER II. an experimental reactor was in operation. This local Wannsee research institution and laboratory is surrounded in almost a complete circle by a very well maintained green area of forests and also by yet another important local Wannsee institution - The Golf- und Land-Club Berlin-Wannsee e.V. Founded in 1895 it is one of the most renowned and largest golf clubs in Germany with an enormous 27-hole course.
At first glance one assumes that the proximity of the two major institutions in the neighborhood of Wannsee is random. Yet, for artist Kristóf, who has been artistically researching open spaces and large member clubs such as Golf Clubs, there is more to this than meets the eye. As part of Kristóf’s first solo exhibition at Wannsee Contemporary, the artist invites all people living, working or just strolling around the lakes and forests of Wannsee to join for an exhibition and artistic excursions exploring the fascinating relation between Golf, science and Berlin-Wannsee.
Kristóf’s exhibition and public walks in the forests surrounding these two institutions begin with the question: do we know what is inside of a golf ball? From this question Kristóf continues to share through paintings, photography and installations how a Golf Club is not just simply an open garden just as a research institute is not only a laboratory. In Kristóf’s exhibition and planned walks he examines how science, sports
and recreation come together. Kristóf challenges us to start imagining Wannsee as a space for speculative environments in which the realm of the laboratory and golf are surprisingly intertwined.
Half-Life WANNSEE GOLF-CORE is the the third solo exhibition by Gábor Kristóf encountering the realm of golf following “Picnic on the Driving Range", curated by Vladimír Beskid, Schemnitz Gallery, Bánska Štiavnica, Slovakia, 2021; and "Untitleist", curated by Piotr Sikora, Kisterem, Budapest, Hungary, 2023.
