You May Also Like: Robert Stadler

Born in Austria and now living in France, Robert Stadler is one of the few contemporary designers who productively unite art and design. His works explore and creatively play with the boundary separating art and design, the boundary which classifies objects as products or as works of art.
One of Stadler’s central themes is the increasing digitalisation and resulting repeatability and non-binding character it brings to the physical or visual world. Consumption and production are key issues which he also takes up in his work. The exhibition at the Lipsiusbau in Dresden was the first in the German-speaking region to present works by the designer and his critical view of our world of objects.
Stadler’s works have been supplemented by a selection of twenty masterpieces and unknown artefacts from the archives of the Dresden State Art Collections (SKD). Stadler has selected the items together with the French curator Alexis Vaillant, as well as created several new pieces for the exhibition. The result was a multi-genre, multi-epochal “community of objects” which offered new perspectives on contemporary design and the collections of the SKD. For the Dresden Kunstgewerbemuseum (Museum of Arts and Crafts), the exhibition represented an important step towards contributing to the international discourse on contemporary design. The museum plans to present the exhibition at additional venues in Germany and other European countries.

Artistic director: Robert Stadler (FR/AT)
Curator: Alexis Vaillant (FR)
Artist: Robert Stadler (FR/AT)
Works from the Robert Stadler Collection: Richard Artschwager, Sammy Engramer, Aaron Garber-Maikovska, Jaya Howey, Hans-Christian Lotz, William G. Webb

Participating SKD museums: Old Masters Gallery, Green Vault, Arts and Crafts Museum, Mathematical- Physical Salon, Saxon Folk Art Museum, Dresden Museum of Ethnology, Porcelain Collection, Sculpture Collection

Works on loan included pieces by Lucas Cranach the Younger, Agostino Carracci, Johann Joachim Kaendler, Paul Kindermann, Wilhelm Wagenfeld and anonymous masters – from the areas of the fine arts, handicrafts, mirabilia, antiques and modern consumer goods.