We can move. The sculpture can’t.
Esther Kläs
Esther Kläs "Riesenchace" at Kadel Willborn, Düsseldorf, Germany
What is actually going on in the world?
Seeing, looking around. There are short moments and long moments,
maybe missed moments whose significance one can’t really know.
At this moment, I find seeing better than sentences.
A great chance. It is, it would be, it could have been.
A great chance is maybe a step.
And/or if one takes a look and decides for oneself.
Works in the exhibition:
P, A (1/3), A(2/3), A( 3/3) Riso (v), Riso (b), ++^ and path of maybe
The material that is best for each sculpture or drawing is chosen.
(Esther Kläs)
Esther Kläs’ sculptures, drawings and performances are characterized by an active dialog between space, material and body. At the beginning, there is always a moment of emptiness from which a dynamic coordinate system of body, material and space evolves. The materials of Esther Kläs’ sculptures, such as concrete, bronze, aquaresin, silicon, wax, or ceramic, are at first “formless” and are then literally formed to an at once abstract and concrete “thing” in a succession of physical actions. Esther Kläs predominantly works with her own hands, the process remains “readable” in the resulting artworks. In this regard, Esther Kläs’ sculptures and drawings are an index of past physical actions and as a “counterpart” enter into a dialog with the viewer.
2/3, 2019, Oilstick on paper. Installation view "The subtle interplay between the I and the me - Art and Choreography", Kolumba Museum, Cologne, Germany
2/3, 2019, Oilstick on paper & mar, 2014, natural fibre, concrete. Installation view "The subtle interplay between the I and the me - Art and Choreography", Kolumba Museum, Cologne, Germany
Green/brown, 2020, Oilstick on paper. Installation view "The subtle interplay between the I and the me - Art and Choreography", Kolumba Museum, Cologne, Germany
Looking for the state of emptiness to be able to observe what is coming up is what I do. Being in different places, seeing what is. Not knowing is inspirational
TON - Performance by Gustavo Gomes and Esther Kläs
Video by Kolumba, Aart Steinmann
Esther Kläs was born in Germany in 1981. From 2001 to 2007 she studied at the Düsseldorf Art Academy, 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 are currently on display in the exhibition „The subtle interplay between the I and the me - Art and Choreography“ at Kolumba Museum Cologne.