"Now is life very solid or very shifting? I am haunted by the two contradictions.This has gone on forever; goes down to the bottom of the world—this momentI stand on."—Virginia Woolf
The title of Esther Kläs' fourth exhibition with the gallery—As of Now—hintsat a similar kind of duality, or threshold. Things that are fixed, but which couldalso shift. A phrase that, on the one hand, means the here and now, but on theother, change and possibility. The idea that, henceforth, things can be different.Today and tomorrow, encapsulated in three brief words.
Esther Kläs' sculptures are still and restrained but ultimately informed bymovement. As is typical of her practice, these are multipartite works inprecise spatial configurations. They operate on three levels: the elements arein a relationship with each other, the space, and the dynamic presence of theviewer. As of Now showcases the new trajectories in Kläs' sculptural thinking,most notably an expansion and deepening of her interest in repetition,movement, time, division and difference. color, 2024 is composed of eightpanels. They stand in pairs, arranged by shape and colour, similar yet distinctand recognisable as a group. Leaning against the wall as if waiting, as thoughthey have just been finished, or are in a provisional state. The title 'color' is ahumorous, self-evident reference that conjures up a sense of belonging.
future/now, 2024 and reflections, 2024 were aluminium casts from earlier, unusedresin sculptures that were subsequently cut into two or three sections. Theparts are arranged in the order of cutting, one in front of the other. By reusingor undoing a previous form, the artist questions her own thought-processes.
It also engenders change, a re-configuring of a work's inherent possibilities.Letting the sculpture reflect itself by its own confrontation. The movementof these stable sculptures is multidirectional. connect, to be, 2024 is the largestwork in the exhibition. It consists of two painted canvases, one on the walland another, smaller one on the floor. The two parts are connected by sticks.The cast canes leaning against the wall seem to correspond with the marksin the work, while intersecting the very similar ones on the floor. Throughresemblances and multiplied elements, the artist makes us aware of thedetailed complexity in connect, to be. Manifesting the link between conditionand proposition.
Kläs also debuts 3, 2024, a new wall-mounted work that combines fabric, adrawing on paper, and vinyl. Here too is the idea of multiplicity, only nowapproached via layering. A synthesis of individual elements to form a connectedwhole. Minimal, abstract and sparse, but also colourful, textural and gestural,Kläs' works resist linear interpretation. One way to view them is as mapsand propositions. Abstract records of the creative journey in which only themost essential elements are visible. The artist's works contain vestiges of theprocesses involved in their making and they reward careful scrutiny.
Kläs' prints and drawings also revolve around motion: marks on paper as thetraces of movements and relationships. A schematic index of things that theartist has seen and felt, all visualised with great economy of means. Multipledashes; concentric and overlapping circles (both broken and whole); verticals,horizontals and diagonals; geometric and organic forms; forceful strokes andtenuous lines: all have an associated gesture, often repeated, sometimesmirrored or inverted. Colours and titles evoke varied associations: mountain,sea, sky, horizon, cloud, moon, horse, dune, dance. All of which demonstratethat this is an abstraction rooted in life, feeling and direct observation. Distilledto its absolute essence. Thoughts crystallised onto paper in a personal,evocative and wholly non-prescriptive way.
As of Now coincides with the publication of clouds, a fourteen-year overview ofEsther Kläs' oeuvre from 2009 to 2023. Conceived by the artist and publishedby ZOLO Press, the book is available at the gallery.
Esther Kläs (b. 1981, Mainz, Germany) lives and works in Barcelona. Recentexhibitions include Maybe it can be different, Fondazione Giuliani, Rome,Italy (2020); The subtle interplay between the I and the me, Kolumba, Cologne,Germany (2020); Start, Center for Contemporary Art, Tel Aviv, Israel (2019);ola/wave, Proyecto AMIL, Lima, Peru (2017-2018); Our Reality, FondazioneBrodbeck, Catania, Italy (2015-2016); Whatness, Kunsthalle Bielefeld, Germany(2015); Girare Con Te, Marino Marini Museum, Florence, Italy (2014); andEsther Kläs: Better Energy, MoMA PS1, NY, USA (2012).
German-born Esther Kläs has developed a distinctive visual language that harks back to the great sculptural traditions of the twentieth century – including post-war abstraction and minimalism – while simultaneously challenging contemporary sculptural norms. Using malleable materials that can be worked by hand – cement, clay, plaster, Styrofoam and resin – Kläs is a process-based sculptor who maintains an intimate physical relationship with her work. Interested in the dynamics of group sculptures, Kläs often creates human-scale ensembles that seem governed by their own internal and external logic. Her practice frequently addresses stasis and movement, with her sculptures eliciting specific gestures and motions from viewers. Differing relations of scale, asymmetry, and the contrast between light and dark colours, also play a central role in her work.
Xavier Hufkens is one of Europe’s leading galleries for contemporary art. Located in Brussels, the gallery maintains a diverse exhibition programme with solo exhibitions of the gallery artists as well as group exhibitions and special projects. The gallery deals in a distinctive combination of painting, drawing, sculpture, photography, video and installation-based work.
The origins of the gallery date back to 1987, when Xavier Hufkens opened a gallery space in an un-refurbished warehouse in the neighbourhood of the South Station (Midi) in Brussels. During the early years, the focus of the gallery was upon mid-career and emerging artists and the gallery is known for having introduced some of the most influential contemporary artists to Brussels at a time when they were still relatively unknown. British sculptor Antony Gormley, who is still affiliated with the gallery, Felix Gonzalez-Torres and Rosemarie Trockel all showed in Belgium for the first time with Xavier Hufkens (Gormley in 1987; Gonzalez-Torres in 1991 and Trockel in 1993).
In 1992, the gallery moved to a 19th-century townhouse at 6 rue Saint-Georges, close to the Avenue Louise. Completely renovated by Belgian architects Paul Robbrecht, Hilde Daem and Marie-José Van Hee, the house quickly gained a reputation for being not just one of the most beautiful contemporary art spaces in the Belgian capital, but also one of the most interesting. The expanded exhibition programme coincided with the additional representation of a number of established artists from Belgium and abroad, including Richard Artschwager, Thierry De Cordier and Jan Vercruysse. In 1997, Hufkens expanded the gallery further by annexing the adjacent building and a number of new artists joined the gallery, including Louise Bourgeois, Roni Horn and Thomas Houseago.
A second space in the same street, at 107 rue Saint-Georges, opened in spring 2013. Located in the Galerie Rivoli, a mixed-use commercial development from the 1970s, the new gallery space was designed by Swiss architect Harry Gugger, who was previously in partnership with Herzog and De Meuron. Slegten & Toegemann, Brussels, managed the project. A third space opened in spring 2020, located at 44 Rue Van Eyck, designed by architect Bernard Dubois.
An eclectic but very clear vision underpins all of the gallery’s activities: 'The definition of the gallery was established from the start. The common thread, then and now, is quality over and above everything else, which I find more intellectually challenging than a forced definition. From the early days I juxtaposed established artists such as Michelangelo Pistoletto with someone like Felix Gonzalez-Torres when he was totally unknown. Today I still mix my work: I have no problem showing Malcolm Morley … alongside Robert Ryman, or Willem de Kooning.' [Xavier Hufkens in The Art Newspaper, Issue 220, January 2011, published online: 20 January 2011]
Xavier Hufkens represents some thirty artists from different generations. He was part of the six-member selection committee for Art Basel during seven years and also participates in up to five international Arts Fairs annually. The gallery has partnerships with the estates of Louise Bourgeois, Willem de Kooning, Robert Mapplethorpe and Alice Neel.
