re-title.com Feature Newsletter Photography, Film & Video May 2010

HASSAN KHAN
EVIDENCE OF EVIDENCE

22 May - 8 August 2010

Hassan Khan is one of the most active and interesting artists in the Middle East. As the title of the exhibition suggests, Khan considers the role of art as a conceptual and linguistic activity. To this end he makes use of the widest range of media such as video, photography, performance and installation. With «Evidence of Evidence» Kunst Halle Sankt Gallen is pleased to present Khan's largest exhibition so far, which he developed during a stay of several months in St. Gallen.

With his interest in interdisciplinary formats and with the inclusion of various cultural and social locations in St. Gallen, in «Evidence of Evidence» Khan takes a profound and fascinating look at the process of artistic production. Prompted by conceptual, formal but also certainly personal motives, in an intensive examination of the city and the Kunst Halle as an institution he has created works concerned with language, gestures and the concepts of art jargon. These works radically diverge with regard to approach, medium and understanding of presence in space. The exhibition has been created and lives from this difference; it stimulates visitors to discover existing but unpronounced relationships. Ultimately «Evidence of Evidence» is intended to be a wave in which meaning continually changes while we move on within it.

With a minimalist sculpture made up of 44 solid concrete blocks as well as a video work in which Kunst Halle staff on a theatre stage act out a silent piece made up of gesture and glances Khan quietly plays the repertoire of institutional criticism. He thereby emphasises two important moments in the perception of art: its existence as a physical statement in space as well as its mediation and communication, which are not always possible to verbalise. In the process he also does not forget to see art as an emotional and very subjective activity and thereby take as a subject the role of the artist. Personal relationships and memories are thereby like a thread running through the exhibition. This is illustrated by photographic reproductions of statuettes which Khan has owned since childhood and which represent his first relationship to imagery, manufacture and exoticism as well as a video portrait of a former partner of the artist.

«Evidence of Evidence» is an exhibition which calls for attention and thinking on the part of visitors. Khan's artistic activity - which takes place far away from any kind of ethnographic parameters - can only be deciphered in this way. However, he does not forget to provide visitors with an opportunity to enter his world: thus a small retrospective in the form of 30 etchings will be on show, representing key works of his artistic production. «Evidence of Evidence» is thus not only an exhibition specifically developed for Kunst Halle Sankt Gallen but also provides a comprehensive view of Khan's project-oriented and conceptual working method.

Hassan Khan (*1975, lives and works in Cairo, Egypt) has had solo exhibitions at the following institutions and galleries (selection): Galerie Chantal Crousel, Paris (2004), A Space Gallery, Toronto (2005), Gasworks, London (2006), Le Plateau, Paris (2007) and Uqbar, Berlin (2008). He has participated at the Triennials in Turin (2005) and Yokohama (2008) as well as the Biennials in Istanbul (2003), Seville (2006), Sydney (2006), Thessaloniki (2007), Contour, Netherlands (2007), Gwangju, South Korea (2008) and various other international group exhibitions. Khan has also composed soundtracks for the theatre and given concerts at different venues around the world. His album «tabla dubb» was released by the «100copies label». In addition to the publication of two books - «17 and in AUC« (2003) and «Nine Lessons Learned from Sherif El Azma» (2009) - he has written for numerous newspapers and magazines worldwide.

Image:
Hassan Khan
Videostill from GBRL, 2010
Courtesy of the artist and Kunst Halle Sankt Gallen

Kunst Halle Sankt Gallen
Davidstrasse 40
CH-9000 St. Gallen
Switzerland
T +41 (0)71 222 10 14
E info @ k9000.ch

Kunst Halle Sankt Gallen

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