Simon Kiessler

Simon Kießler is an enabler, a pioneer in the truest sense of the word. You could call the artist's works conceptual and yet they are close to the material and the creative act. His works are not isolated objects. People and chance play an important role in his art, embedded in a precisely thought-out experimental arrangement. Kießler himself withdraws, eludes artistic categorisation and democratises artistic creation with his approach.
His artistic practice allows people an unmediated, playful approach without lacking the necessary depth. Through the interposition of actions and the participation of others, Kießler comes close to the original, uninhibited creation of art that he missed after his studies.
Through the deliberate use of irritation, he creates participation at eye level. In his work We don't need no education / Minibagger from 2019, for example, Kießler had a trained excavator operator with no painting experience compete against a painting professor with no knowledge of construction machinery to create a portrait of him by controlling the excavator. Both will be on display in the exhibition alongside a video documentary. All of the works created during these activities will become Kießler's property in accordance with a previously concluded contract.
The exhibition 'Play hard' focuses on two works by the artist that have their origins in the same memory. The artist's memory of the beloved rocking horse that his great-grandfather built. The work Dizzy / Schaukelpferd (2021) is an oversized replica of this toy. Adults are invited to take a seat and rock. Paper lies beneath the horse, in which the movements are inscribed. Dizzy / Pegasus (2022/2024) is similar in another dimension and mode of action. What happens to adults who indulge in this childlike game? Does the rocking awaken their own memories? Do you become a child again? Does the constant repetition of the swaying movement induce a different state of consciousness? Simon Kießler invites visitors to explore these questions in four art installations.
Simon Kießler (* 1983 in Elsterwerda) graduated in Fine Arts as a master student of Prof Stella Geppert at Burg Giebichenstein, Kunsthochschule Halle. Prior to this, he studied sculpture under Professor Andrea Zaumseil and completed a state-certified wood sculptor training programme in Oberammergau. He lives and works in Halle.

Last edited on 10.04.2025