Public Art Fund Talks: Claudia Wieser

Tuesday, November 9, 2021, 1:30 - 2:30pm

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Claudia Wieser: Rehearsal

Claudia Wieser, Rehearsal, 2021. Ceramic, digital prints, stainless steel. Presented by Public Art Fund at Brooklyn Bridge Park, July 29, 2021 - April 17, 2022. Courtesy Claudia Wieser; Marianne Boesky Gallery New York and Aspen; and Jessica Silverman, San Francisco. Photo: Nicholas Knight, Courtesy of Public Art Fund, NY.

Berlin-based artist Claudia Wieser is known for her Modernist-inspired geometric constructions. Influenced by the work of Hilma af Klint, Wassily Kandinsky, and Paul Klee, who embraced spirituality as part of their aesthetic process, Wieser broadens their ideals to consider the coexistence of abstraction and physiological experience.

Wieser’s free, virtual talk on November 9 accompanies Rehearsal, the artist’s first-ever public art exhibition, presented by Public Art Fund at Brooklyn Bridge Park on view through April 17, 2022. Featuring five distinct large-scale geometric sculptures clad with hand-painted glazed tiles, panels featuring photographs of New York City and Roman and Greek antiquities, and mirror polished stainless steel, Rehearsal creates an immersive experience. Juxtaposed with the surrounding architecture and landscaping of Brooklyn Bridge Park, the work highlights the dynamism of the city and its people. The installation may be seen as both a meeting place and a theatrical set that hearkens back to ancient Roman forums—public spaces where people could assemble, interact, and exchange ideas.

The artist will give insights into her thinking and practice, and will discuss with Public Art Fund Associate Curator Katerina Stathopoulou the expansion of her work into the public realm, where it has grown to monumental scale.

Registration required.

Public Art Fund Talks are presented in partnership with The Cooper Union.

About the Artist
Berlin-based artist Claudia Wieser (b. 1973) is known for her Modernist-inspired geometric constructions. Influenced by the work of Wassily Kandinsky and Paul Klee, who embraced spirituality as part of their aesthetic process, Wieser broadens their ideals to consider the coexistence of abstraction and physiological experience. The artist's hand is readily evident in a multimedia process that is both meticulous and delicate, as seen in her fine colored pencil and gold leaf drawings. Through an early apprenticeship as a blacksmith at Bergmeister Kunstshmiede, Wieser honed her understanding of art and the object, the aesthetic and the functional. This studied craft informs her approach to the technical drafting of her multi-faceted mirrors, hand-painted and patterned ceramics, and carved wooden sculpture.

About the Talks
Public Art Fund Talks, organized in collaboration with The Cooper Union, connect compelling contemporary artists to a broad public by establishing a dialogue about artistic practices and public art. The Talks series feature internationally renowned artists who offer insights into artmaking and its personal, social, and cultural contexts. The core values of creative expression and democratic access to culture and learning shared by both Public Art Fund and The Cooper Union are embodied in this ongoing collaboration. In the spirit of accessibility to the broadest and most diverse public, the Talks are offered free of charge.
 

  • Founded by inventor, industrialist and philanthropist Peter Cooper in 1859, The Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art offers education in art, architecture and engineering, as well as courses in the humanities and social sciences.

  • “My feelings, my desires, my hopes, embrace humanity throughout the world,” Peter Cooper proclaimed in a speech in 1853. He looked forward to a time when, “knowledge shall cover the earth as waters cover the great deep.”

  • From its beginnings, Cooper Union was a unique institution, dedicated to founder Peter Cooper's proposition that education is the key not only to personal prosperity but to civic virtue and harmony.

  • Peter Cooper wanted his graduates to acquire the technical mastery and entrepreneurial skills, enrich their intellects and spark their creativity, and develop a sense of social justice that would translate into action.