Peter Wächtler’s work alternates between many different (narrative) forms to talk about everyday occurrences as well as his own experiences and observations, which he mixes with cartoons and references from pop culture, film and art history. Many of his works are witty and playful, and his figures are repeatedly caught up in a tragicomedy. His visual world often plays with language, and writing functions as a way to connect the different aspects to this practice. In a simple, but strong language, interspersed with small mistakes taken from the German syntax, one reads and hears Wächtler's semi-fictional prose poetry, describing memories, anecdotes, absurd situations. The exhibition spaces, the installation of the video works in the space in combination with other elements of his artistic work, also play an important role. Objects, sculptures and drawings sometimes reach from the projection screen into space, expanding the experience of his pictorial world and reality. What role does the surrounding space play in Wächtler's work, and what possibilities does it offer?

Focussing on two of his most recents shows, Ad Astra at Kunsthalle Zürich and Up the Heavies at the Fondazione Della Nogare in Bolzano, Wächtler will discuss a selection of works and how they define the generic space reserved for the presentation of value and meaning.

Biography

Peter Wächtler (°1979 in Hannover) graduated in Fine Art from the Bauhaus-Academy Weimar in Germany and the Kent Institue of Art and Design Canterbury in England in 2004. He currently lives and works in Brussels and Berlin. He has exhibited solo at, among others, Ad Astra, Kunsthalle Zürich (2019); Up The Heavies, Foundation Antonio Dalle Nogare, Bolzano (2019); Museum of Contemporary Art M HKA, Antwerp (2017), dépendance gallery, Brussels (2017, 2013); Chisenhale Gallery, London (2016); Kiosk, Gent (2016); The Renaissance Society, Chicago (2016); Westfälischer Kunstverein, Münster (2014); Reena Spaulings, New York (2014); Kunsthalle Wien, Vienna (2013). Wächtler also participated in recent group exhibitions such as: Social Surfaces: A Fundraising Exhibition, Artists Space, New York (2017); The Absent Museum, WIELS, Brussels (2017); 2015 Triennial : Surround Audience, New Museum, New York (2015) ; Liverpool Biennial (2014) ; 12th Biennale de Lyon (2013). This September Sternberg Press published after their last publication of a collection of Wächter’s texts in 2013, entittled Come On, a new collection of texts and drawings under the title Jolly Rogers.