Double #2: Paula Santomé – Paradox / Kathrin Sonntag – Sobjects

In the Kunstraum Riehen’s “Double” exhibition format, a regional and an international position come together to create unexpected thematic links in two independent projects. For the second edition, curator Simone Neuenschwander has invited artists Paula Santomé (*1994, Spain, lives in Basel) and Kathrin Sonntag (*Germany, lives in Berlin). The works of the two artists focus on the modalities of perception in our society. Using various media—Santomé with sculpture and reliefs, Sonntag with photography and objects—they examine the hidden contexts behind social structures or things that accompany us in everyday life.
Santomé explores how the domestic environment can become a source of conflict rather than a safe space. Drawing on the history of the women's rights movement, she looks at women's agency, which has often been limited by housework and motherhood. The artist draws on references in literature and ancient mythologies to question passed on gender roles and their conditioning.
Sonntag looks at our relationship to everyday objects. With her own system of order and playful humor, she explores the contradictory and whimsical layers of meanings, functions, and prompts that communicate themselves in the appearance of the world of things. Her photographs, objects, and objets trouvés are often presented in the context of installations and address the conditions of our perception, which the artist repeatedly puts to the test through pictorial inconsistencies and deceptions.
Website
kunstraumriehen.ch/en/page/double-2-paula-santome-paradox-kathrin-sonntag-sobjects
Where
Kunstraum Riehen
Im Berowergut
Baselstrasse 71
4125 Riehen