ALMOST PERSONAL (SOME SHORT, THEN VERY SHORT CHAPTERS): Videos and films by Städelschule friends

Wei Yang is an artist based in Liuzhou, China and Frankfurt, Germany.

Gašper Kunšič (b. 1992, Slovenia) studied at the University of Applied Arts Vienna, the Academy of Fine Arts Vienna and at Städelschule Frankfurt am Main. Gašper Kunšič often uses his own biography as a point of departure for his artistic practice, adopting exhibition processes to alter the course of private and collective histories. Encompassing mixed media, many of his works incorporate visual references from his native Slovenia and larger ex-Yugoslavian space and manifest as spatial installations through which the artist translates personal relationships into trans-media forms. He lives and works in Frankfurt and Vienna.

Alicja Wysocka was born in Poland. She is currently graduating from Hochschule für Bildende Künste Städelschule in Frankfurt am Main, Germany in the class of Haegue Yang. She holds a Master’s degree in graphic design from Academy of Fine Arts in Poznan, Poland. Interested in exploring alternative economic models and common community-based forms of coexistence such as crafts making, rituals, forms of collaborations which might function as a collective therapeutic experience, she creates site specific video installations, objects, and situations.
Recent social projects include the Ushirika Cooperative (since 2017) and Solstice/Equinox (since 2018). She co-organized the International Congress of Art Cooperatives in 2022, hosted by the Museum of Modern Art in Warsaw. Selected group shows: Centre of Contemporary Art in Warsaw. 2017, Museum of Modern Art in Warsaw, 2020, Garage Gallery Prague, 2021, Kunstverein Wiesbaden, 2021, Venice Biennale of Architecture, 2021, The Fairest: Teaser 02, Berlin, 2021, Kunsthalle Wiesen, 2023. Solo shows: Jo-anne Gallery in Frankfurt, 2021, Akademie SchlossSolitude in Stuttgart, 2021; Wunderkammer in Stuttgart, 2021; fffredrich gallery, Frankfurt am Main, 2023. Selected art residencies: JAF Indonesia, 2019; Akademie Schloss Solitude, 2020; Cittadellarte – Fondazione Pistoletto, 2021; Sofia Goethe Institute, 2021; Hestia Belgrade, 2022; Jan van Eyck Akademie, Netherlands, 2022-2023. Prizes and scholarships: DAAD Prize, 2018; Scholarship of Polish Ministry of Culture and National Heritage, 2017; Scholarship of the City of Warsaw, 2019.

Hee Jae Kim (b. 1991) works between Seoul, Berlin and Frankfurt. Hee Jae has been exploring many different types of communities such as families, lovers, nations, neighborhoods, religions, etc. in the past few years. Starting from the concern for community, the artist focused on the themes such as sense of belonging, communication, breakaway/escape, connection, migration and drift. The artist has been thinking about these subjects by asking herself what does it mean to “be together” in a world dominated by its language and old customs. She has been investigating the strong identity of “we” and the motivation to have a sense of belonging. At the same time, the artist is broadening her interest particularly in the contradiction of the solidarity that continues to fail despite craving for being in “we”. The artist has also been working on her work lately with interest in the power inherent in ‘storytelling’ in the community. She sees the potential of functional and entertaining elements of traditional myths and legends by combining them with the idea of “creating the new universe” recently used by K-pop musicians and their companies or in some video games. By drawing on the characteristics of storytelling into the work, which is delivered when spaces and times are entangled and spun , she unravels the narrative of the common solidarity that takes place around marginalized people, events, and places with unique cynical humor. ٩( ᐛ )و