To celebrate the 25th anniversary of Villa Aurora, VATMH (Villa Aurora & Thomas Mann House) presents the exhibition “all the lonely people” at silent green Kulturquartier. The exhibition, curated by Nana Bahlmann, examines the ancient figure of the hermit against the backdrop of the current pandemic. The show presents examples of loneliness, melancholy, and longing, as well as physical and mental withdrawal. Some of the works by former Villa Aurora fellows and Los Angeles-based artists have been created during periods of personal isolation, others have been newly conceived for the exhibition. After Berlin, all the lonely people will travel to LAXART in Los Angeles.
“All the lonely people” makes the experience of isolation and solitude visible. In doing so, the artworks take up traditional motifs associated with hermitage – retreat into nature, contemplation, and the dualities of inside and outside, exchange and silence, exclusion and trauma – and apply them to some of today’s urgent questions. They offer new perspectives on loneliness in the digital age, off-grid self-sufficiency, and imaginary places of refuge in the midst of gentrification and systemic oppression.
For more information and details please visit www.vatmh.org