We are pleased to present the first institutional solo exhibition by Olga Balema (b. 1984, Ukraine) in Germany.
For some time now Olga Balema is concerned with the relationship of human beings to their present environment. Organic materials and technological artefacts, both fleeting and solid, come together to intermingle and merge inseparably in her sculptural works.
In her solo exhibition at the Kunstverein Nürnberg, Olga Balema addresses the cultivation of food. Agriculture as an institution has shaped many cultural beliefs that determine our relationship to our environment and to other living beings up to today. Even in its most ancient state the production of food through agriculture has aggression as its basis, which becomes expressed in territorial occupations, in the hierarchies between social classes, gender inequalities, as well as in the treatment of animals and plants. With a series of new works, Balema draws attention to this violent aspect of farming practice and reflects at the same time on the look at the “other”, the “alien”, that is always contained in our observation of nature.