Raphael Weilguni: Cloud

In the organizer's words:

"Cloud" is Raphael Weilguni's first solo exhibition at Galerie Rüdiger Schöttle. In his latest ceramic sculptures, the Munich-based artist shows the result of an intensive phase of work, which are associatively reminiscent of natural forms such as clouds of smoke or rock formations, but here and there also hint at body parts or even faces. What is formed appears as if it has been exposed by the removal of natural materials, rather than built up; it is difficult to tell what was created by chance or consciously formed. The simultaneity of the processual and the archaic character of these ethereal sculptures are palpable and raise the question of where they actually come from.

The title of the exhibition "Cloud" emphasizes the supposed randomness and variety in the density of form that is also inherent to clouds. The metaphorically conceived clouds of smoke also affect the sculptures on a material level as they are fired in the wood-fired kiln. Weilguni deliberately exposes his latest works to natural wood ash in the kiln in order to create random glazes on the ceramics. In some cases, however, he also deliberately applies ash glaze and other glazes to the sculptures beforehand, using them in an almost painterly manner. It is this tension between artificiality and the natural that drives the artist during the process of creating the sculptural structure, even permeating it and repeatedly forcing him to leave the desired form to the technical imponderables. Weilguni's working method is reminiscent of a synaesthetic approach; he merges music, painting and sculpture. Everything seen, heard and experienced flows into the figures and is permanently manifested in them. Similar to a cloud, which serves as a storage format into which, as we all know, all our personal data is fed when we use our smartphones, where it provides an image of ourselves that cannot be fully controlled. In contrast to these technoid conditions, Weilguni creates sculptures on which the traces of the man-made always remain recognizable, their appearance is even more reminiscent of archaeological artefacts and thus also transcends the temporal dimension.

Raphael Weilguni (*1989 in Augsburg) lives and works in Munich. He studied painting and sculpture at the Academy of Fine Arts Munich from 2012 - 2017. Last year Weilguni was a resident at the EKWC in Oisterwijk (NL). In 2022, he received the Scholarship for Young Art and New Paths from the Free State of Bavaria. His works were most recently part of the exhibition "Kunst des Formens. Porcelain and Contemporary Ceramics" at the KOENIGmuseum in Landshut.