Fair: Miart 2024, Milan

For Miart 2024, Sans titre presents a solo exhibition by German artist Robert Brambora. It will be the second solo show by the artist in Milano, following “Outro,” an off-site project organized by Sans titre in 2022.

The show unites two complementary series of works the artist has been developing over the past year. Contemporary urban landscapes are juxtaposed with serene, contemplative ceramic sculptures. Complemented by wallpaper, the two series invite a dialogue on contrasts in the world beyond the fair.

Inspired by Italo Calvino’s novel Invisible Cities, Brambora’s series of paintings on wood are urban landscapes produced in a neo-impressionist mode, characterized by a combination of traditional and contemporary techniques. City scenes blanketed in smog evoke the effects of climate change; wildfires, heavy rain, and apocalyptic scenes create an atmosphere of science fiction. Brambora’s paintings exude a potent surreality, even as they evoke sensations of loneliness, solitude, and boredom familiar to inhabitants of the vast, impersonal landscapes of contemporary capitalist cities.
Floating above some of these painted landscapes are scattered data snippets and futuristic AI-generated advertisements. These texts are applied using UV printing techniques, creating a visually impressive effect that combines the machine-made with the handmade, the intellect with affect.

The booth’s immersive wallpaper, designed by Brambora, features an image of intertwined tongues, symbolizing the perversity and turmoil of urban environments.

In stark contrast to the frenzied, dystopian imagery of the paintings stand Brambora’s large ceramic sculptures of golden ears. These sculptures evoke a profound sense of serenity, silence, and contemplation. In the frenetic context of an art fair, they invite viewers to pause and reflect on the nature of sensation and receptivity. For the occasion, the artist will also produce a small edition of the ear sculpture presented at Miart 2024.

Mathilde Cassan

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Robert Brambora (born in 1984, Germany) lives and works in Berlin, Germany. He completed his studies in the class of Rebecca Warren at the Kunstakademie Düsseldorf in 2015.

Robert Brambora’s solo exhibitions include ‘News from Nowhere’ at Sans titre, Paris (2023); ‘Alternate Endings’ at Zentrale, Karlsruhe (2022); ‘Retro’ at Motto Books, Berlin (2022); ‘Outro’ at Sans titre, Milan (2022); ‘Good bye euch’ at Tobias Naehring, Berlin (2021); ‘La Ballade des Sardines’ at Sans titre, Paris (2020); Bonner Kunstverein, Bonn (2019); ‘Too much of Nothing’ at Sans titre, Paris (2017); ‘Forward to History’ (with Jan Kiefer) at Kunstverein Wiesen, Wiesen (2016) and ‘The Hunt’ at Salon Kennedy, Frankfurt (2015).

Recent selected group shows include Galerie Tobias Naehring, Leipzig (2024); dacodac, Zurich (2024); Kunstverein für die Rheinlande und Westfalen, Düsseldorf (2023); Mamoth, London (2023); Nice Biennale, Le 109, Nice (2022); Weberknechte, Verein für Kunst e.v. - Hinterconti HellsClub, Hamburg (2021); CAN – Centre d’Art Neuchâtel (2020); Kunstverein Harburger Bahnhof (2020); Ginny on Frederick, London (2020); Nagel Draxler Gallery, Cologne (2019); Haverkampf Gallery, Berlin (2019), Tobias Naehring, Leipzig (2019); Kunstverein Mönchengladbach (2019); Neuer Kunstverein Essen, Essen, (2018); Basement, Leipzig (2018); Walz, Frankfurt (2018); PIK, Cologne (2017); Schkeudi, Leipzig (2017); Real positive, Cologne (2016); Fiebach/Minninger, Cologne (2016); ABC Kolonie, Copenhagen (2015); Salon Schmitz, Cologne (2015); Museum Kunstpalast, Dusseldorf (2013) amongst others.