Ways of Hope La Galleria · Venice

With his works Nothing something and Square, Heinz Gappmayr invites us to explore the philosophical concept of existence. His works challenge us to think beyond the boundaries of the present, to have ideas that go beyond pure perception and suggest that even in nothingness there is something, a potential. In the endless flow of time, there is always room for reinvention, growth and ultimately hope.

Günther Uecker, member of the ZERO group and world-famous nail artist, who is celebrating his 95th birthday this year, once said: “Art cannot save people, but with the means of art a dialog is possible that calls for action that preserves people.” He took part in the Documenta in Kassel for the first time in 1964 and represented Germany at the Venice Art Biennale in 1970.

Mario Reis embodies the power of nature to heal and restore with his delicate paintings of roses. His delicate works evoke the fragility and resilience of nature and show that even in the worst of times, nature offers a constant reminder of renewal and the quiet yet profound power of life.

Lore Bert’s works Golden Square and Hope explore the artificial realm in which hope becomes a constructed ideal, a shining beacon amidst the noise. Her works bridge the material and the metaphysical, suggesting that hope, like art, can be both a product of human creation and a transformative force.

Liebl Schmid-Pfähler’s Mini Macro Controllers present a collective vision of hope shaped by the interplay of human ingenuity and technology. Their work invites us to consider how collaboration on an individual and societal level can create a shared future based on hope. It also emphasizes the critical role of technology in improving our position in the world by providing innovative solutions to global challenges and fostering new opportunities for a more sustainable and equitable future. By embracing technology, we have the potential to reshape our environment and our society and ensure that hope does not remain just a concept, but becomes a tangible, transformative force for positive change.

Fabrizio Plessi occupies a unique position in video art, of which he is a founder and pioneer. He uses video as a painterly medium, not to tell a story, but to allow the viewer to develop their own associations and thoughts. In more recent works, Plessi increasingly reduces the sculptural part of the works surrounding the monitor. The screens are often only fixed in discreet fixtures.

The present work is based on the mosaics of Venetian church architecture, to which the Venetian by choice has a strong connection.

Sebastian Dannenberg locates painting in space. His interventions strike a balance between spatial reference and the autonomous quality of a transportable work. His attempt to assert painting where it does not normally occur, on ceilings, floors, in passageways, as wall brackets or in corners, is an additive process. Despite this addition, the viewer seems to be deprived of his typical perception of space. The works outline and stage the architecture and thus build a natural bridge to the Architecture Biennale.

In these turbulent times, Ways of Hope shows how artists can create new ways of seeing into the future through intellectual, natural, artificial and collective ways of seeing. Their work reminds us that hope is not passive, but an active, transformative force that challenges us to invent, create and move forward together.