Alfonso Hüppi – The confrontation with the inside, the outside, and the trappings

Where do you start and stop? When do you have the chance to talk to an artist whose work is as complex, extensive and significant as his? Alfonso Hüppi is one of the most important representatives of post-war avant-garde and post-modernism, and is as gifted a painter as he is a sculptor, draftsman and graphic artist. My initial idea of trying to narrow down my questions fails with his answer to whether there is a group of works, or creative period, that is particularly close to his heart. "No. Somehow everything has a story and is therefore significant to me", making it immediately clear that one can only approach this Œuvres by talking precisely about these stories.

FACES OF EUROPE by Carsten Sander –  Interactive behind the scenes

Following the footsteps of erasement and preservation – An eerie but local journey with Gregor Schneider

Mönchengladbach-Rheydt. This locality is of special relevance to Gregor Schneider. Not only was he born in Rheyd, but he also lives and works here as a sculptor, photographer and film maker. When creating the rooms of the Haus u r*, a family home, his work was essentially born. Since the age of sixteen, he has been building the same rooms into existing rooms, duplicating rooms and objects, or makes them vanish. The construction and fitting of twenty-four of these rooms into the German Pavilion of the Venice Biennale in 2001 resulted in him becoming the winner of the Golden Lion award. Since then, they have been exhibited in new, ongoing contexts worldwide ...

Arne Quinze – Protest art exquisitely packaged

Belgium, Sint-Martens-Latem. I need to mention that I am visiting an artist today whose works I have never seen live, and which I only know as pictures via an Instagram account. A risky experiment!
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Mischa Kuball – Irritation as a concept

Berlin, Jewish Museum. I have an appointment with Mischa Kuball in the Libeskind building, one of THE contemporary architectural icons of Berlin. His light and sound installation res·o·nant, specially created for this location, remarkably illustrates the working method of this conceptual artist, who has been presenting his artistic statements in public and institutional spaces since 1977.

Eva und Adele – A total artwork from the future

Who hasn't seen them anywhere before? Their appearance simply attracts everyone's attention. Always dressed identically in bright, ladylike costumes, heavily made-up and with shaved heads, they usually only advance a few metres during their visits to the art fairs and events all over the world. All the time someone asks them for a photo. Since nearly 30 years you almost never hear them say "no". EVA & ADELE pose and smile - and that all the time. The smile is an essential component of their performance FUTURING, which dissolves any border between public and private. Only a few people know that this performance is accompanied by an impressive collection of paintings, drawings, photographs, sculptures, films and costumes and is represented in well-known museums and collections all over the world. The exhibition L'AMOUR DU RISQUE at me Collectors Room Berlin deals retrospectively with their complete work. An opportunity for me to meet them there ...

Markus Ambach – The city as a studio

Claudia Mann – The search for the origin of sculpture

Düsseldorf, 17 April 2018, Kunstgießerei Schmäke art foundry. Here I meet Claudia Mann, winner of the Düsseldorf Förderpreis für Bildende Kunst, a sponsorship for up-and-coming artists in the city. Her bronze casting "Solid Aero" is in its final stages. An unusual place to meet for a studio visit, given that at this stage the work of the artist is, in fact, mostly complete. Not so with Claudia Mann... I drive to the courtyard and witness the patination of a sculpture by Markus Lüpertz. I observe the process together with Claudia Mann, and am surprised by the speed at which the chemical process makes the bronze change its colour. "I absolutely had to get a look at this. I'm still gathering my options, you see, and want to understand the extent to which it's possible to leave the pure cast skin", she tells me, and we are abruptly in the middle of the topic at hand. "