Esther Kläs
Esther Kläs
Esther Kläs’ sculptures and paperworks follow an autonomously defined logic that sets her work in relation to episodes of art history, such as minimalism and abstraction, while at the same time authentically positioning it in the here and now of present-day contemporary art. Esther Kläs’ works give rise to an ongoing dialogue between body and environment, which already starts with her process-oriented engagement with plastic materials such as concrete, clay, plaster or artificial resin. Although they are static, Esther Kläs’ sculptures and drawings appear to be in constant motion between object, figure and space. Despite their abstraction, or perhaps precisely because of it, her sculptures and paperworks refer to their own presence that enters into a performative relationship with the body of the beholder. In doing so, Esther Kläs’ works avoid any kind of metaphor or narration in favor of direct experience.
Esther Kläs was born in Germany in 1981. From 2001 to 2007 she studied at the Düsseldorf Art Academy and from 2008 to 2010 at Hunter College in New York City, where she lived until 2015. She currently lives and works in Barcelona. Her works are part of institutional collections such as Kolumba Museum Cologne, Kunsthalle Bielefeld, Collection of the Federal Estate of Germany or Maxxi - National Museum of 21st Century Arts in Rome. Recent solo shows were at the CCA, Tel Aviv (2019) and Fondazione Giuliani Rome (2020). Earlier solo shows include “Better Energy”, MoMA PS1, New York (2012), “Girare ConTe”, Museo Marino Marini, Florence, Italy (2014), “Our Reality”, Fondazione Brodbeck, Catania, Italy (2015) and “Whatness” (with Johannes Wald), Kunsthalle Bielefeld, Germany (2015). Her works were recently on display in the exhibition “The subtle interplay between the I and the me. Art and Choreography” at Kolumba Museum Cologne (2021) and at the exhibition “Afterimage”, MAXXI L‘Aquila - Museo nazionale delle arti del XXI secolo, Italy.
