curated by Brigitte Kölle

With its grant for young artists from northern Germany, the Arthur Boskamp Foundation has been making a significant contribution to the advancement of young art in the region for five years now. The 2011 call for “interdisciplinary concepts” was directed at artists whose production is defined by an interdisciplinary, multi-media approach. The grant winners this year Wiebke Elzel (b. 1977) and Johannes Jensen (b. 1981) exhibit their work at the Arthur Boskamp Foundation in two parallel solo shows. Both shows are accompanied by publications that will be released at the finissage on 18 December 2011.

In BEALE TRAIL — DOCUMENTS OF A CHASE Wiebke Elzel takes up the hunt for a gold treasure said to have been hidden by a certain Thomas J. Beale in 1820/22. Stepping in for the many obsessive Beale researchers, the artist herself plays the part of a treasure hunter who, using her own research, attempts to crack the legendary ciphers – including on location in the USA. An omnibus of photographs, video materials, authentic objects, found objects and documents bears complex witness to her search and is one component of Elzel’s most recent project, presented for the first time at the Arthur Boskamp Foundation.

GARAGE LAYOUT is the title of Johannes Jensen’s exhibition, a collection of sculptures, installations, slide projections and conceptual works. Before Jensen took up his artistic practice, he trained as an industrial electrician. His knowledge of technical processes and procedures can still be felt in his artwork, but here they are carried out ironically ad absurdum. Jensen’s works are both humorous and serious at once, as they touch on larger themes in a playful and gleeful way. Themes might include the old human dream of unlimited freedom or our longing for a self-determined life.