CARSTEN HÖLLER

With a background as a research biologist, Höller often introduces the subjects and methods of science while incorporating aspects of illogic and unfamiliarity to establish a “Laboratory of Doubt.” Encouraging curiosity, sensory experience, and the reconsideration of assumptions, his works playfully throw rationality itself into question.

The Divisions works investigate division as a generative principle. To create the paintings, Höller repeatedly divides canvases into halves, with lines or sequences of desaturated tints. To compose the neon works, he bisects circles with lines, which in turn determine the centers of other circles in varied sizes, forming complex geometric configurations.

In other works, biological models or taxidermy are mounted over Divisions paintings that are encased in vitrines, establishing a contrast between organic specimens and mathematical forms. The sculpture Double Mushroom Vitrine (Twice) (2021) applies a related strategy of conceptual division, joining halved segments of different mushroom species at life size.

The measure of time is the subject of Half Clock (2021), the product of the artist’s desire to make “the most complicated clock on earth.” Shaped into three nested hemispheres that are divided into successively smaller spatial units, the neon tubes illuminate to represent seconds, minutes, and hours. The clock’s accuracy increases with each subsequent division of space, although half of the passing time is not registered at all—hence the work’s title.

The presentation at Gagosian complements Divisions Platform (2025), an interactive sculpture commissioned by Novartis for the company’s campus in Basel. It is comprised of six cylinders of polished stainless steel, each of which is either half or double the diameter and height of its neighboring form. Etched with lines that emphasize the principle of division, the cylinders can rotate independently of one another, constantly shifting based on visitors’ interactions.

The gallery will be open from 10am to 6pm on August 29–31 for Kunsttage Basel.