ST. GALLEN.- The special exhibition at the Lokremise illustrates the artistic approach to the theme of urbanisation and its effects on people, the environment and society.

Altötting, Hamburg, Berlin, New York, São Paulo… Nenn mich nicht Stadt! (Don’t call me city!). The thematic exhibition takes its name from a large-format painting by Berlin-based artist Franz Ackermann (*1962). It may be an expression of a desire for a different world, beyond the overblown signage of urban metropolises, sprawling megacities, beyond being en route between political and economic centres, the experience of restlessness and displacement in a globalised world. The exhibition invites visitors to experience the theme of urbanisation in an artistically creative way and in so doing to question it as well. Whether as a profession to uncontrolled metropolitan growth, as a sober acknowledgement of what exists, as imagination of the spectacle of endless urbanity or as an essay on alienation in an urban environment – the wide variety of possible interpretations and ways of understanding underscores the discursive nature of the show.

The exhibition is deliberately being held at the Lokremise gallery, a hotspot for urban development right in the middle of St. Gallen. Yet the exhibition does not aim to illustrate substantive issues, but rather to adopt an artistic stand in relation to current debates. The focus is on works engaged in a spatial dialogue with one another, revolving around topics such as urbanism and its existential dimensions: Nenn mich nicht Stadt! (Don’t call me city!) – a visual discourse on today’s city.

Artists: Franz Ackermann • Katalin Déer • Fischli - Weiss • Andrea Geyer • Fabrice Gygi • Rita McBride • Norbert Möslang • Jonathan Monk • Matt Mullican • Manfred Pernice • Gunter Reski • Silke Schatz • Beat Streuli