FRANKFURT.- “Disorder” in the Frankfurter Kunstverein is the first large institutional solo presentation of the Basque artist Ibon Aranberri in Germany since his participation last year in documenta 12.

Aranberri is positioned in the field of contemporary art in an idiosyncratic way. To classify him in a regular sense or even to fully understand what his work and approach is about is indeed difficult. Of importance to Aranberri are signs and objects, in which the mechanisms of society and their power structures become clear. His work is mostly integrated in a political context, particularly that of the Basque region with its political conflicts and social relations, but also in his concentration on the area’s local art history.

Fundamental approaches to Aranberri's work are observation, background research, dialogue and documentation. He develops a distinctive vocabulary of art and public space over the course of his examinations of sculpture.

The body of work “Cave (Ir.T n° 513)” (2003), which will be presented in a large-scale situation in the Frankfurter Kunstverein, documents a long journey through prehistoric caves of the Basque region in north of Spain until the dramatic closure of one specific habitat. At first sight, the work reminds one of a contemporary version of “land art”. The fieldwork that includes a trip to the site is just one part of the concept as a whole. A further more important aspect consists of the exact documentation of the place, the idea and the accomplishment of his project, as well as an incorporation of a permanent physical intervention into the relevant documentary and geographic notes, maps and archives. Aranberri works meticulously, in a comparable fashion to the methods of conceptual art. A noticeable part of his documentation is his formal description of how we treat nature, its representation and its inevitable connection with politics.

Aranberri does not only make a permanent mark on nature, but also works intensely with the bureaucratic sides to its administration such as archives, maps, etc. He seeks clarity to be attained for the viewer on just how much the political, historical and geographical parameters are actually interconnected. However he does so while remaining unethical in his argumentation. For example, his work “Política hidráulica” (2003-2007) that was exhibited at documenta 12, shows an association of ideological and formal aspects concerning Basque dam projects since the 1950s in relation to modernity. He describes with formal soberness, how world understanding, society and politics can have an effect on nature.

He does not reveal nor does he openly accuse, but instead lets the content of his work revolve around the traces of power, thrusting them out of their actual context just far enough to be able to develop a meta-level.

Besides this work, Aranberri also presents his sculptural installation “Floating Garden” (2004-2008). The work consists of series of modules made of concrete encrusted with broken San Pellegrino glass bottles. Although they are alienated from their conditions of daily usage they suggest the possibility to be utilized as prototypes for a fictional architecture and impart an idea of a poetic brutality in the mind of the observer.