ORNAMENT UND VERBRECHEN 2 — LAGE EGAL CURATORIAL PROJECT #196
JANINE EGGERT
ALEKOS HOFSTETTER
Opening Saturday, JUN 10, 2023, 7pm — 10pm
JUNE 11 — JULY 01, 2023
THU — SAT, 3pm — 6pm
Also open by chance or appointment
LAGE EGAL CURATORIAL PROJECTS
Strausberger Platz 19, 10243 Berlin
Contact: sonderlage@lage-egal.net
We are pleased to present the second exhibition of “ORNAMENT UND VERBRECHEN” presenting a selection of drawings and sculptures by JANINE EGGERT and ALEKOS HOFSTETTER. The series of exhibitions takes place at our temporary space at Strausberger Platz 19, located within one of the historic neoclassical Hermann Henselmann towers, also known as “Haus des Kindes”. The title of this series takes inspiration from the renowned essay by architectural theorist Adolf Loos, who asserted that ornament was a sign of decadence and violence in modern society.
JANINE EGGERT’s work comprises colorful sculptures that feature industrial materials and industrial manufactured objects. The works deal with ornamentation and its relationship with abstraction or minimalism, as the first original form of expression in objects. She layers her sculptures with colourful epoxy resin or stained glass, which undergo a transformation process, such as an enlargement of the shape or a bare expression of the original form. Through this process, she exposes the banality of the objects while simultaneously infusing them with magnification and vibrant expressions. As a result, the sculptures become an entity on their own, forming an architectural presence within the exhibition space, waiting to be put into action.
ALEKOS HOFSTETTER’s dynamic drawings reflect on the ongoing changes in modernist architecture, combing the layering of iconic, emblematic architecture with lettering techniques and elements from comics. In his works he mixes ink, coloured pencils and permanent marker pen, to apply different layers of drawings that each construct a new relationship between architecture and its surroundings in his drawings. He takes inspiration from post-war modernist buildings and transforms them into utopian cult places depicting stories of failures of former utopian promises. The works reveal the entangled relationship between architecture and modernism, that portray the progressive suppression of modernity. The drawings thereby reflect on the relationship between time and memory as present in modern architecture.
The selected works reinforce the tension between nature and culture through quotations and appropriation of objects and functions, whilst offering unique perspectives on the processes of transformation, modification and the relationship between the aesthetic and the historical. Together, they form a unique landscape of objects and elements of architecture, that each reflect on narratives of modernity and minimalism and the role they play in contemporary society. This prompts us to question our own conceptions of ornamentation and the underlying complexities within our built environment.
