Cloud

We are pleased to present 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. Reminiscent of natural forms such as smoke clouds or rock formations, the works also hint at body parts or even faces. The formed pieces appear to have been exposed by removing natural materials, rather than by being built up, making it difficult to discern that which was created by chance or that which was consciously sculpted. The simultaneous processes and the archaic character of these essential sculptures are almost tangible and raise the question of their actual origin.

The exhibition title Cloud emphasizes the supposed randomness and variety in the work’s density, characteristic of clouds. Such metaphorical smoke clouds also materially affect the sculptures during their wood kiln firing. Weilguni deliberately exposes his latest works to the natural wood ash in the kiln to create random ceramic glazes. However, he also intentionally applies ash glaze and other glazes in an almost painterly way to some of the sculptures prior to firing. This tension between artificiality and the natural drives the artist during the process of creating the sculpture, repeatedly forcing the desired form to be left to the technical uncertainties. Weilguni's method is reminiscent of a synesthetic approach; he lets music, painting and sculpture merge together. Everything seen, heard and experienced flows into the figures and is permanently manifested in them. The works become similar to the cloud on which our personal data is stored, fed from our smartphones to give us a self-image which we cannot fully control. In contrast to these technoid conditions, Weilguni creates sculptures where the traces of humanmade things are always recognizable, their appearance reminiscent of archaeological artifacts which breaks temporal dimension.

Raphael Weilguni (b. 1989 in Augsburg) lives and works in Munich. He studied painting and sculpture at the Academy of Fine Arts Munich from 2012 to 2017. Last year Weilguni was a resident at the EKWC in Oisterwijk (NL). In 2022 he received the Bavarian scholarship for Junge Kunst und neue Wege. Most recently his works were part of the exhibition The Art of Forming. Contemporary Porcelain and Ceramics at the KOENIGmuseum in Landshut.