Under the Milky Way. Abstraktion, Autonomie und post-vandalische Tendenzen in der Kunst der Gegenwart

The outdoors is now a school, the urban underworld a studio, and unchained anti-authority supersedes the influence of the academy and the market. This is where art movements come to life; Hidden Masters emerge who have recently also been taking the institutional stage. Some have a background in graffiti, others have studied painting; some used to be urban trespassers painting in places where they had to be vigilant, eluding the all-seeing eye of the authorities. The resulting art is best described by three terms: abstraction, autonomy, anddepending on ones perspectivepost-vandalism. The exhibition Under the Milky Way presents captivating positions from these scenes across Europe. It is not a graffiti show but a creative transfer that invites abstract painting and other practices into the museum space. There are raw ideas, irony, autonomous art, and conceptual as well as anarchic approaches. What emerges, at times off-the-cuff, is an art of art, frequently expressing political stances, often with the boldness to do exactly what needs to be done. The book accompanying the exhibition at Kunstverein Hannover brings together several defining protagonists of this movement in a never-before-seen constellation. Though hailing from heterogeneous urban and creative scenes, they time and again find themselves Under the Milky Way: driven by an urge to seek freedom and creative action that is unattainable by daylight. Artists: Amos Angeles, Alexandre Bavard, C.cilia Brown, Stephen Burke, Bus 126, Brad Downey, Hams, Antwan Horfee, Klub7, Daniel Laufer, Mischa Leinkauf, Patrick Niemann, Moses und Taps, Christoph und Sebastian Mugge, Martina Morger, Rocco und seine Bruder, Veli Silver, Mathias Weinfurter, Angst Yok