You May Also Like: Robert Stadler

Staatliche Kunstsammlungen Dresden
Kunsthalle im Lipsiusbau
Brühlsche Terrasse

Opening: March 17, 6–10pm, with a talk with Marion Ackermann, Tulga Beyerle, Alexis Vaillant, Robert Stadler
Meet the designer: May 31, 6–9pm, Robert Stadler and Tulga Beyerle

The Staatliche Kunstsammlungen Dresden (Dresden State Art Collections) are pleased to present the first survey exhibition of Austrian and Paris-based acclaimed designer Robert Stadler. Initiated by the director of the Kunstgewerbemuseum, Tulga Beyerle, the exhibition You May Also Like: Robert Stadler is curated by Alexis Vaillant and is being held at the Kunsthalle im Lipsiusbau, Dresden from March 18 to June 25.

Working at the intersection of design, the visual arts, and critical practice, Robert Stadler uses design to question social issues and imagine new ways of conceiving objects. You May Also Like: Robert Stadler marks the first survey exhibition of his work. More than 70 of his pieces spanning two decades, between 1995 and 2017, are exhibited together. Following on from his interest in objects of all kinds, Stadler has further “enriched” the exhibition with a careful selection of historical and contemporary objects presented next to his own designs. Alongside objects from Stadler’s own collection, a selection of 23 masterpieces and unattributed artifacts from eight Staatliche Kunstsammlungen Dresden collections form an integral part of the exhibition. The result is a cross-historical “community of objects” that highlights Stadler’s deep interest in material cultures while creating a network of meanings that are informing his practice.

Divided in five themes—Artificial Intelligence, Instability and Fetishism, Informed Objects, The Morphing of the Natural into the Artificial, Forms of Randomness / Control and Fragmentation—the exhibition consists of an installation without walls unfolding in front of an oversized back-lit screen. This wall-surface affects the entire exhibition space: it connects physically the “community of objects” exposed to the digital world while highlighting the challenges initiated by Stadler's work. This unique set fits the multi-layered nature of Stadler’s own profile. It also suggests how this particular profile “functions” with both the objects and the ideas within them. In a time of fast-paced technological change where the e-business is based upon “indifference and desire,” link the catchphrase “you may also like” to the name of a designer critically highlights what sums up an individual on the internet today: the creation of a profile and the gathering of likes linked to it, two major points of interest for the making of a survey exhibition.

Contributing museums of the Staatliche Kunstsammlungen Dresden: Gemäldegalerie Alte Meister (Old Masters Picture Gallery), Grünes Gewölbe (Green Vault), Kunstgewerbemuseum (Museum of Decorative Arts), Mathematisch-Physikalischer Salon, Museum für Sächsische Volkskunst (Museum of Saxon Folk Art), Museum für Völkerkunde Dresden (Ethnographical Museum Dresden), Porzellansammlung (Porcelain Collection), Skulpturensammlung (Sculpture Collection)

Including works by:
Agostino Carracci, Lucas Cranach the Younger, Johann Joachim Kaendler, Paul Kindermann, Wilhelm Wagenfeld, and anonymous masters, ranging across the fine and decorative arts, mirabilia, antiques and contemporary consumer goods such as an electronic cigarette

The exhibition also features works from the collection of Robert Stadler:
Richard Artschwager, Sammy Engramer, Aaron Garber-Maikovska, Jaya Howey, Hans-Christian Lotz, William G. Webb

Initiated by: Tulga Beyerle
Exhibition concept: Robert Stadler, Alexis Vaillant
Exhibition curator: Alexis Vaillant
Exhibition design: Studio Robert Stadler
Graphic design: HelloMe

The accompanying catalog is conceived by Alexis Vaillant, edited by Alexis Vaillant and Staatliche Kunstsammlungen Dresden, and published in English by Verlag der Buchhandlung Walther König, Cologne. It includes a conversation between the designer and the curator, four texts by Jan Boelen, Gilbert Lupfer, Joanne McNeil, Mohammad Salemy, and a short story by Brian Dillon, all translated into German. It is designed by HelloMe. ISBN: 978-3-86335-883-9

Funded by the German Federal Cultural Foundation

Kindly supported by Carpenters Workshop Gallery and Thonet