Spitzfindigkeiten

As part of the exhibition series Solo im Ensemble, seven printmakers present their work under the title Spitzfindigkeiten.

Though diverse in their individual approaches, the artists are united by a longstanding friendship and a shared passion for printmaking and analogue graphic techniques. Many of them were inspired, encouraged and trained – both technically and artistically – by the late printmaker Rina Riva. Over the years, each has gone on to develop an independent practice, continually experimenting with and expanding their own visual language.

The title Spitzfindigkeiten plays on several meanings. It suggests a particular sharpness of mind: an alert and critical way of looking at the world, a sensitivity to detail and a willingness to question what may at first seem self-evident. It is an attitude that invites closer reflection on the realities around us and on the relationships and tensions that shape them.

At the same time, the title also points quite literally to the tools of the artists’ craft. Working with analogue techniques, they use the point of a pencil, the nib of a drawing pen, a steel burin or a finely sharpened cutting knife. Unlike the soft stroke of a painter’s brush, these tools create precise, uncompromising lines and contours – allowing the artists, at times with a touch of humour, to expose and playfully skewer some of the contradictions of human nature.