Meisterschüler:innen
Shaping the world
New perspectives on a world that is constantly being reshaped: Exhibitions enable artists to exchange ideas and broaden their own perspectives as well as those of the audience.
The central idea behind the Hannover Re Foundation's commitment to the Meisterschüler:innen is to create such points of crystallisation. Since 2014, the Meisterschüler:innen exhibition series has been taking place in the building and outside area of Hannover Re. In cooperation with the Braunschweig University of Art, graduates are given the opportunity to present their works to a large audience. The exhibitions are accompanied by individual catalogues. The artists give exclusive tours of their exhibited works and make their artworks available for loan to Hannover Re employees in an art library.
In 2023 and 2024, the exhibitions were expanded internationally for the first time: Individual artists exhibited their works at the Hannover Re branches in Stockholm, Paris and Dublin.
The exhibitions are curated by Karin Kamolz. Co-Curator: Uwe Sommer.
These four artists are exhibiting their works of art this year: Jan-David Grommas, Justus Linnekugel, Emil Wesemann and Maja Zipf.
Jan-David Grommas likes to explore architectural structures and constructions in urban spaces, especially in neglected places such as subway stations, industrial wastelands and the underworld of tunnels and emergency passages. He has a keen interest in graffiti and the subcultural features often found hidden in places with unusual architecture and aesthetics. He documents these and rearranges them to create elaborate new compositions. But he’s not only concerned with the formal aspects of his art; he goes looking for a poetry of his urban surroundings which also finds expression in his works.
Justus Linnekugel weaves multi-layered references into his works, both in terms of content and the techniques and materials he uses. His compositions tell stories that become more ambiguous once shifts in context open the door to different interpretations. Scenes of domesticity take on different meanings once elements have been detached from their original context. The artist plays with these symbols of safety and beauty, thus highlighting the ambivalence of our imagination and sense of reality. By deconstructing narratives, ideas that have formed over time and our collective associations, both in terms of content and aesthetics, he is also removing our generally accepted interpretation of them.
Emil Wesemann’s work explores houses and living spaces as symbols of private as opposed to public spaces. In the history of civilization, the permanent dwelling replacing a nomadic way of life was a turning point that is associated with the emergence of personal property and the need to defend it, of having a place to retreat to, the nuclear family, and the exclusion of anyone who does not belong. When designing said living spaces, these inner-societal micro-contexts contribute to an aesthetic that creates a certain narrative, and intends to do so. The design of these living spaces is often the result of aesthetic decisions that tell stories about the respective residents. The design of a house thus becomes an expression of identity.
Maja Zipf's work looks at our uncertainties and fears for the future, without resorting to dystopian scenarios or pessimistic forecasts, in view of recent historic upheaval in politics, society and the environment. She instead strives to convey something positive despite the current world situation, a “principle of hope”, as the philosopher Ernst Bloch described it. This is expressed in her works through organic, loose forms that have an experimental and playful feel. They show her engagement with natural phenomena, are organically flowing and resist any rigid structure. Mutability implies an ability to change, which includes a change for the better.
Further impressions of the Meisterschüler:innen exhibition 2025:
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