Tobias Rehberger

Tobias Rehberger Following critically acclaimed exhibitions throughout Europe, German artist Tobias Rehberger emerged as a highlight of last year’s Venice Biennale. The Whitechapel presents his first solo exhibition in the UK. Rehberger produces atmospheric environments that play with light, space, furniture, signage and clothing inspired by modernist art history and recent design classics. Sociable, interactive, utopian and playful, his work thrives on chance connections, unexpected encounters and the gaps between communication and misunderstanding. He was first seen in London in a group show at the ICA that featured his ‘vase portraits’ of nine artist friends. A subsequent exhibit at Frankfurt’s Portikus gallery, was based entirely on fulfilling visitors’ requests in response to which Rehberger created a beautiful orange ramp for disabled visitors; dazzlingly patterned soft seating; reading matter in the toilets and a sign for the bookshop so big that visitors could walk through it. For the Whitechapel’s exhibition, Rehberger again fuses form and function by producing works that colonise the lower gallery and spill out into the city. Posters advertising the artist’s favourite brands announce the exhibition before you enter through his endoscopic images wallpapered onto the foyer walls. Hovering in the middle of the gallery is an enclosed chamber - like a futuristic yellow pod - with a surprising and intimate connection to a private home. At the back of the gallery, visitors are invited to explore brightly coloured structures based on the proportions of the artist’s studio, windows and doors.

This exhibition is originated by the Whitechapel and curated by Anthony Spira. A publication will accompany the exhibition with installation shots and an interview with Tobias Rehberger and Anthony Spira. Tobias Rehberger has produced a Whitechapel Edition to support the Gallery’s programme

Funded by The Henry Moore Foundation
With thanks to Neugerriemschneider, Berlin; ifa-Institut - Stuttgart-Berlin Pressetext

Tobias Rehberger - Private Matters (Lower Galleries)
Kurator: Anthony Spira