In his medium-spanning artistic oeuvre, Manuel Graf (b. 1978 in Bühl, lives in Düsseldorf) pursues a critical confrontation at the boundary between social utopia and real everyday reality. Precisely observed, his works offer a kaleidoscopic look at human existence that is not confined to the here and now, but also attempts to interpret our cultural history in retrospect.

The programmatic exhibition title “GodboX” already carries within it the artistic Janus-headedness reflected in the choice of profane and religious topoi: Staged by means of analogue and digital strategies, the exhibition spaces become home to elaborate objects, films and installations that establish cross-references between religion and architecture, science and pop culture, archaeology and superstition. Using digital techniques such as 3D animation and architectural rendering, Graf’s cinematic works in particular link thematic areas that continuously create a connection between different territories (Orient and Occident) and historically overlapping layers of time.

Excursions into the architecture of places of worship are continued as installations within the exhibition space. The juxtaposition of real and virtual in his work also expands to include the question as to whether new technical advances in society make the hoped-for utopia possible or instead give rise to a dystopian scenario. It is this genuine curiosity about the world and the search for corresponding images that distinguishes Manuel Graf as an artist.