Grieder Contemporary is delighted to announce the second solo exhibition by the Berlin-based artist, Thomas Kiesewetter, at its Seefeld gallery. Following an initial exhibition in Küsnacht in 2011, this latest presentation features a selection of small-format sculptures fashioned from monochromic sheet metal, complemented by ink drawings. It was two-and-a-half years ago that an exhibition showcasing the artist's spectacular outdoor sculptures marked the closure of Grieder Contemporary's premises in Küsnacht after five successful years of exhibiting. In almost analogous fashion, the current solo presentation is marking the end of exhibiting activities in Seefeld early next year: Grieder Contemporary is set to move into its definitive new gallery rooms in the Brewery Yard of Zurich's Löwenbräu site at the end of January 2014.

This latest display of Kiesewetter works consists of waist-high plinths bearing small sculptures made from monochromatically painted sheet metal. In the artist's body of work, the relationship of small to large sculptures is akin to that between a sketch and a painting. In contrast to the large-format sculptures in stainless steel, the small ones feature sheet metal, which Kiesewetter folds and pieces together. Due to the provisional nature of the works, the artist allows himself to be experimental, open and playful. He discovers new shapes by moving freely within the material. At the same time, working with sheet metal requires a certain rigour:  everything comes from the bending and shaping of the material. The playfulness leads to clarity; it exudes the intimate lightness of a chamber play.

The plinths in the exhibition on which the sculptures stand are not strictly necessary. The works could, in theory, equally well be accommodated on a table or shelf. However, unlike the artist's "360-degree frontal view" concept of his large pieces, these smaller items are clearly conceived to be viewed from the rear as well as from the front. They are small enough to reveal their intrinsic natures within the observer's field of vision.

In the mind of the artist, the pen-and-ink drawings on paper are on a par with the small sculptures. Their blurred outlines are equivalent to the solid structures. The medium of the ink and the immediacy of the metal both represent a starting point in the working process – they stand for a moment of reflection and of experimentation on the path leading to the large sculptures. 

Thomas Kiesewetter (born 1963 in Kassel, Germany) lives and works in Berlin. His works are to be found in numerous private and public collections, including at the Museum of Modern Art, New York, the Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles, the Kunsthalle, Bielefeld, and the Städtische Galerie, Wolfsburg.