Claudia Wieser: Surroundings

Claudia Wieser’s outdoor sculptural constructions create an immersive environment for exploration. In Surroundings, featuring works created specifically to be displayed on the Esplanade of the Stavros Niarchos Foundation Cultural Center, Wieser’s Modernist-inspired geometric sculptures examine the intersection of art and the object – the aesthetic and the functional.

The exhibition Surroundings centers on a meticulously crafted free-standing stage adorned with more than 1800 clay tiles that were attentively hand-painted by the artist in her Berlin studio. Wieser, who trained as a painter, leaves traces of her brushstrokes in each vibrantly-colored tile. The sculpture serves both as a performance stage and a public space for assembly, prompting visitors to become consciously aware of their surroundings. It is an invitation to slow down the pace and be present in the moment. The geometric structure is embedded with built-in seating meant to encourage interaction and the exchange of ideas, drawing upon the rich history of art and design —from the democratic spaces of ancient Roman forums and ancient Greek theaters to the architectural principles of Bauhaus craftsmanship.

Sprinkled throughout the Esplanade are large-scale vertical metal structures that form an atmospheric immersive constellation amongst the trees. Each of the brilliantly-colored surfaces tells a different story through fragmented imagery: photographs of bodies taken by Wieser herself, reproductions of ancient sculptures, landscapes, painterly and geometric forms, entwined with actual hand-painted tiles. Seamlessly woven together, these assemblages capture the pulse and dynamism of human existence.

Curated by Katerina Stathopoulou

Throughout the run of the exhibition, the Esplanade will function as a flexible site for programs and performances, featuring performers, dancers, poets, activists, and musicians, serving as a public space of free expression.

Claudia Wieser
Berlin-based artist Claudia Wieser’s (b. 1973, Freilassing, Germany) exquisite geometry interrogates the history of Modernism and the fundamentals of art and design. Her work explores the formal relations of life and beauty through geometric tile sculptures, mirrors, tapestries, and drawings that bridge the divide between the aesthetic and the functional. Influenced by the work of Wassily Kandinsky, Hilma Af Klint, and Paul Klee, who embraced spirituality as part of their aesthetic process, Wieser broadens their ideals to consider the coexistence of abstraction and physiological experience. Through an early apprenticeship as a blacksmith at Bergmeister Kunstschmiede, Wieser became proficient in a range of materials from copper and gold leaf to metal and clay. This studied craft informs her approach to the technical drafting of her multifaceted practice. Wieser holds an MA in Painting and Sculpture from the Academy of Fine Arts, Munich.

With the support of the Goethe-Institut Athen

SNFCC Lead Donor: Stavros Niarchos Foundation (SNF)

Sound Recording: George Dakovanos

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