VERBAL NON VERBAL: Munich

The exhibition VERBAL NON VERBAL invites viewers to question the boundaries and possibilities of human communication and to explore them visually anew. It features works by Magdalena Jetelová, José Vera Matos, Jieun Park, Juergen Staack, and Jorinde Voigt, all of whom address the relationship between verbal and non-verbal communication in diverse ways.

Jorinde Voigt’s works are visual translations of internal and external processes, shaped by subjective perception and objective analysis. In her drawings, she uses a self-developed visual language—an abstract code that follows strict rules while allowing for individual freedom. The series On Reality represents a central part of Voigt's oeuvre and continues her systematic exploration of perception and reality.

José Vera Matos is known for his text-based graphic works that delve into cultural identity and the power of language. In his pieces, he examines how language and writing served as tools of oppression during the colonization of the Americas and later became means of resistance. Vera Matos meticulously transcribes significant texts by hand onto bamboo paper, incorporating pre-Columbian geometric patterns. This combination visualizes the tensions and fusions that arise from the encounter of different cultures.

Artist Jieun Park engages deeply with the boundaries and possibilities of communication in her works. Whether in painting, drawing, performance, or video art, Park explores how language, gestures, and traces shape our social interactions and understanding of memory. Her series and performances, which are based on writing and language, highlight the impact of encounters and relationships on our collective and individual consciousness. Jieun Park’s art challenges viewers to reconsider communication as a multifaceted process.

Juergen Staack’s works often build bridges between verbal and non-verbal communication, exploring the fragility, transformation, and disappearance of language. His projects frequently focus on rare or endangered languages and their intersections with sound and image. In his series WEI, Staack addresses the overpainting of illegally sprayed phone numbers in the hutongs of Beijing, creating abstract wall paintings that examine the tension between visual erasure and artistic creation. The installation combines high-resolution photographs of these overpaintings with a sound collage of collected "WEI" phone calls, addressing the transience and transformation of communication in public spaces.

Magdalena Jetelová uses unconventional materials and techniques in her works to question fundamental themes such as communication, language, and boundaries. Jetelová is interested in societal contexts and their transformations. Primarily a sculptor, she works with space, draws with light in landscapes, or even uses pyrotechnics. In this way, the medium itself becomes the language: the artworks communicate through their physical presence and their interaction with the viewer. Jetelová often addresses the limits of expression and examines how language whether verbal or visual is shaped by context, power, and interpretation.