RELAX (chiarenza & hauser & co)

Marie-Antoinette Chiarenza (b. 1957 in Tunis, Tunisia) and Daniel Hauser (b. 1959 in Bern, Switzerland) began collaborating in 1983 and have been operating as RELAX since 1997.

The name stands for a stance that suspends speed and the pressure of expectations and tensions, creating space for reflection and fundamental questions.

RELAX usually work in specific situations, incorporating the exhibition venue and social, political, economic and ecological contexts into their practice. Their multimedia works challenge social values as well as the canon and structures of art. With subtle humour and an investigative eye, RELAX open up new perspectives: their installation What is wealth? (2010–17) from the collection of Kunstmuseum Liechtenstein forms the starting point for in-depth considerations of value, property, responsibility, memory – and happiness.

Works by RELAX have supplied the title of two previous exhibitions at the museum: Who pays? (2006) in 2017 and What do we want to keep? (2018) in 2021. Making profound statements or posing open questions like these, RELAX prompt us to engage in communal reflection – after all, as they say, thinking alone is criminal.

The exhibition is the result of a close collaboration between RELAX (chiarenza & hauser & co) and the museum; it combines their works in the collection with works created specifically for this solo presentation.

A production of Kunstmuseum Liechtenstein, curated by Christiane Meyer-Stoll with Leslie Ospelt.