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Melancholy Boxes – A series of sculptures exploring the contemporary meaning of melancholia

Broeg continues research here into melancholia and its contemporary meaning, and the complex territory between sculptural form and functional object, in this case furniture. Broeg sets up encounters with meanings belonging to style, taste and ‘zeitgeist’. He repeats the shape of the Broegsche Koerper as both pure minimal sculpture and as a functional piece of furniture. By consistently not varying the proportions of the cube, Broeg questions variation by repetition. He investigates the meaning of an ideal design, which becomes the vessel for a variety of inquiries. The object is treated like a canvas with a fixed set of specific features, not changing context or scale. “It is not easy to describe the art of Ralf Broeg in familiar terms in order to clearly categorize it. This is due to the variety of very different media with which the artist works.” … “Ralf Broeg acts along the borderlines, moving his painting and photography close to the realm of conceptual art and moving his objects towards the realm of applied design.” (Matthias Siebert, catalogue text for Inside Out).

Broeg was selected to be part of the group exhibition ‘Inside Out’ at Kunst Allianz Berlin (20 May-31 July 2011), which is situated in the Berlin Headquarters of the Allianz Insurance Company (who are not only major collectors of contemporary art but also organizers of temporary exhibitions). Curated by Berlin based Mathias Siebert and Tobias Kuttner, the exhibition was accompanied by a catalogue.