What is So Terrible About Craft?

‘I am interested in the reactionary roots, politically speaking, of the retreat into craft that is happening everywhere and that signals a form of anti-modernity.’ Hollybush Gardens is pleased to present What Is So Terrible About Craft?, an exhibition of new and recent works by Andrea Büttner which continue her research into recurring instances in modernity where craft and design appear as a form of solace, or retreat. The exhibition includes two videos, a selection of large- format woodcuts, a photograph and a group of hand-blown glass vases displayed on a wooden table, which together critique the supposed human warmth...

Andrea Büttner (b. 1972, Stuttgart, Germany), lives and works Berlin, Germany, and is Professor for Art in the Contemporary Context at Kunsthochschule Kassel. She received a PhD from the Royal College of Art, London, and prior to that studied at the Humboldt University of Berlin and Berlin University of the Arts. Her practice connects art history with social an...

Andrea Büttner (b. 1972, Stuttgart, Germany), lives and works Berlin, Germany, and is Professor for Art in the Contemporary Context at Kunsthochschule Kassel. She received a PhD from the Royal College of Art, London, and prior to that studied at the Humboldt University of Berlin and Berlin University of the Arts. Her practice connects art history with social and ethical issues, exploring broad-ranging topics such as poverty, work, community, belief, botany, Catholicism, and philosophy. Her work is based on thorough research into specific areas or situations, and is articulated through diverse formats including printmaking, sculpture, painting, photography, and video. Büttner was shortlisted for the 2017 Turner Prize and is a winner of the 2009 Max Mara Art Prize for Women.