Hans Josephsohn’s work is characterised by his fascination with massand form in space. Over the course of a six decade-long career, hecontinuously recalibrated dimensions and the relationship with theirsurroundings, by means of specific and repeatedly recurring forms.Josephsohn worked in distinct genres, among them the standing figure,the reclining figure, the half-figure and reliefs, as presented in thecurrent exhibition. His sculptures are characterised by an urgent senseof physical materiality. For the artist, the human being manifested itselfin the body, and human existence was characterised by its corporeality.

Josephsohn almost always worked directly from models, most of whomwere wives or partners. Their names are sometimes included in thetitles of the works, with two exhibited examples referencing ‘Ruth’ –Josephsohn’s most important model during the 1960s and early1970s. These works seldom took on the physicality of portraits, andinstead relied on impressions of the personality of his counterpart. Hegradually moved from the almost abstract to the more figurative andback again. While Josephsohn’s early works still retain the slenderappearance of stelae, the artist later became interested in enhancingthe volume and form of his figures by working with quick-drying plaster,which he had then cast in brass or bronze. Traces of his search for theperfect expression through form can be seen on the finished works inthe additions and subtractions of material and in the imprints of hisfingers.

The selection of works in the exhibition at Bleibtreustraße 45 is basedon the architecture of the gallery, which was originally designed as aresidential space. The sculptures and reliefs blend harmoniously intoeach room, calling attention to the proportions of the works within theirsurroundings. Josephsohn’s large half-figure Untitled (Ruth) from1974–75 does not transgress this framework but instead emphasisesthe difference in scale between smaller works, including an intimately-sized standing figure from 1957, at just over 70 cm height. In thesecond room, various human and possibly sculptural figures aregrouped together in a relief, with two sculptures in a similar style – astanding woman and a small half-figure – from the same artistic periodplaced opposite. The third room presents a small, figurative bustUntitled, 1969 beside a larger-than-life, strongly abstracted bust,revealing the fluid complexity of Josephsohn’s approach to the genre ofthe half-figure. The last room is dominated by the sculptor’s recliningfigure Untitled, 1965 and the distinctly vertical orientation of the earlystele, demonstrating the contrast between the horizontal and verticalorientation at play within his oeuvre. The exhibition is not structuredchronologically, but is rather oriented towards the dialogues thatdevelop between Josephsohn’s sculptures and the surroundingarchitectural space.

The four large works exhibited in the gallery space across the road, onthe ground floor of Bleibtreustraße 15/16, make reference to the urbansetting of the gallery. Playing with the divide between the public andprivate domaine, the sculptures can be viewed outside opening hoursfrom the street.