Oscar Tuazon has been working for some years on sculptures that clearly reference the formal language of architecture. While earlier works approached functional aspects of architecture, recent works focus on the materiality of utilized substances. Building materials like cement, wood, glass and metal are often used against their actual purpose, and thereby develop new aesthetical qualities and implications. An important method of the artist is to examine examples of architecture that are developed or built directly by its users. He is inspired by the ingenuity of spontaneous settlements and improvised usage of building materials to create habitats.
For the exhibition “Against Nature” at Künstlerhaus Stuttgart, Oscar Tuazon has realized a new, extensive work, related to research on the legendary “Institut für Leichte Flächentragwerke” (IL)
at the University of Stuttgart and the “Research Laboratory for Experimental Building” in Kassel. The IL was founded in 1964 by Frei Otto and developed experimental structures in collaboration with biologists, medical doctors, and paleontologists that were based on pneumatic and biological principles of construction. Otto’s most known building project is the rooftop of the Olympic Stadium in Munich, completed in 1972. The institute in Kassel is still run today by Frei Otto’s former colleague Gernot Minke.

In his installation, Oscar Tuazon does not only refer to formal aspects of architecture, but is interested in the radicality of a life model associated with such architectural vision, reflecting practice that is hermetic or in constant motion. Out of a hanging steel construction, raw cement, plastic sheets, and tires, Oscar Tuazon creates an expansive sculpture, which realigns the exhibition space and examines the quality of architecture to create atmospheres. In the installation, other works are integrated which can be interpreted as scaled models, oscillating between actual and depicted architecture. The title of the exhibition refers to the English translation of Joris-Karl Huysman’s novel “À rebours ” (1884), which describes the life of a young aesthete, who increasingly withdraws completely into an artificial world.

Oscar Tuazon (*1975) lives and works in Paris. In the past years, he has participated in numerous international exhibitions. Recently he had solo shows at the Centre international d’art et du paysage, Ile de Vassiviere, Balice Herting Gallery in Paris, Standard, Oslo (2009), Seattle Art Museum (2008) and Palais de Tokyo Paris (2007). Next year he will have a solo exhibition at the Kunsthalle Bern. In addition to his work as an artist, Oscar Tuazon is co-organizing the exhibition space “Castillo/Coralles” in Paris as well as the bookshop “Section 7 Books”, which also serves as a meeting point for artists. “Against nature” is Oscar Tuazon’s first solo exhibition in Germany.

The exhibition by Oscar Tuazon is supported by the Institut Français and CULTURESFRANCE.