“chalk underneath objects”

2021-ongoing

found objects, chalk

The series chalk underneath objects (2021-ongoing) is a collection of unwanted and “broken” furniture found in alleyways and thrift shops. These objects, reminiscent of unprimed canvases, also share the feature of semi- permeable surfaces. When chalk is applied, ground across the perforated planes, the fine powder falls through and settles on the ground where it remains as a shadow of the object. It reveals a quality that is beyond its previous function yet no less valuable. Each piece in the collection is imperfect, like the missing wheel on the rolling rack that tilts, the recognizable performance of the object shifted, a shape of its misperformance cast as a shadow and temporarily recorded in chalk. The functionality of the “broken” object may appear reduced at first glance, but on closer inspection is enhanced in others.

Jonas Müller-Ahlheim (*1993 in Wiesbaden, Germany) is a German artist, curator, and educator, who works across multiple media including sculpture, painting, installation, performative acts, and video. He studied Media Art at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts, Copenhagen and graduated in 2021 from The Art Academy Karlsruhe as a Meisterschüler with Professor Leni Hoffmann. From 2021 to 2023 he was awarded the DAAD - fellowship to continue his research at the Painting Department of the School of The Art Institute of Chicago (SAIC), from which he graduated with an MFA. In 2023 he was awarded a teaching fellowship at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago.